Prisoner of Earth-2
by InkWalking
Summary: AU to the episode Escape From Earth-2 What if Zoom interrupted their rescue attempt just a minute earlier? Rated T because I'm paranoid and Zoom is super creepy. I do not own The Flash. The Flash is the property of The CW and is not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, everyone! This fix is obviously set up in the episode Escape From Earth-2 so enjoy. That scene with Barry in the cage just got me as probably my favorite scene in the series so far. The acting was amazing. The set was perfect with the lighting how it was. Shivers. Just, shivers. Please make sure to leave comments telling me what you want to see happen because I'm all for your ideas.**

"But what do I know?" Barry-2 asks, shaking his head as the other Barry stares at him, unblinking, from across the glass. "I'm just Barry Allen, but you, you're-"

A fierce blast of wind cuts the tweed wearing double off, as a blue blur literally zooms into the cave. Time seems to slow for less when it phases through the glass walls of the cell until everything starts again much too fast as the speedster in red is thrown against the wall.

"NO." Cisco shouts and shoves Wells out of the way to slam his hand against the glass like that could do anything.

He manages to look into the eye of his friend one last time before Barry flashes up and makes for a right hook at Zoom.

…

…

...

That's how long it felt like for Cisco. That's what it felt like as Zoom easily blocks the throw from the already injured Flash and continues to beat him to the ground where Barry doesn't get up again. Then, he looks over to the four standing outside the cell. Horror written on their faces.

Cisco faintly hears the click of Wells scrambling to raise his gun while pushing Jesse behind him before Zoom comes for them.

While he does manage, probably another one of Zoom's sick games Cisco thinks, Dr. Wells doesn't dare shoot yet when the masked man snaps outside the cage right in front of them. Cisco and Iris-2 quickly raise their guns in turn.

"And he, Mr. Allen, is just The Flash." Zoom rasps to a now frozen Barry-2. Zoom looks over to Killer Frost. "Thank you for bringing them to me."

"You double crossed us?" Cisco struggles to look over to Caitlin's doppelganger as he keeps his gun pointed at the towering figure. "He killed Ronnie."

Killer Frost paints on a fake smirk that runs down her face like water.

"Guess my heart is as cold as you thought after all." She says.

Cisco's hand shakes slightly whether from fear or anger.

"I can't believe you. Just so you know. you would be very disappointed in you right now."

Wells steps forward.

"Let them go, Zoom. All you need are me and Barry." He motions over to the cage containing the fallen speedster. "You have both. You don't need them."

Zoom rolls his head from one side to the other.

"You're right. I may not be able to kill you yet," He raises a finger toward the group. "But I can kill them."

He speeds across the room and drags Jesse back toward her cell.

"I told you I'd kill you in front of your father." Zoom yanks Jesse loser to him and ignores Killer Frost's darkening glare in the corner as he lifts up his hand.

Ice pierces across the room and shoves Zoom away from Well's daughter and onto the ground.

"Get out of here." The cause of the ice tells them. She pulls her hands toward herself once again before shooting streams of ice toward the speedster.

"Caitlin?" Cisco asks and for the first time she doesn't refute him.

There's nothing in her eyes as she looks back to him.

"You were right. He killed Ronnie."

"Thank you." He murmurs before Wells grabs his shoulder to pull him away toward the exit.

"Come on."

Cisco jerks back.

"Wait," He points to Barry's cell. "We can't leave without him."

Wells presses his hands to his temples the looks up and shakes his head.

"There's no time."

"No, we-"

"THERE'S NO TIME." The doctor shouts, but Cisco just runs back to the cell.

"There must be something." The inventor frantically feels around the edges of the glass box.

"I can't hold him forever." Caitlin-2 warns them.

Cisco looks around the room then suddenly turns back the cage and pounds his hand against the glass and yells to his friend inside.

"Hey, I'm coming back for you."

"GO." Frost shouts.

"Barry, I'm coming back." Cisco yells one last time as he stumbles to the exit in tow of the others.

The unconscious figure doesn't even realize as they make their escape.

******************On Earth One****On Earth One****On Earth One******************

"I don't care what time it is. After all we did to stabilize this breech, we're not closing it until they show up." Joe says and takes a few more steps to look into the breech.

Caitlin just glances down to her phone and struggles to not tap her foot.

"Y'all hear me." Joe says for good measure. He seems to only be comforting himself.

So, they waited.

And waited.

Two minutes later, Joe finds himself standing in the same spot and staring at the same empty space.

"Guys," Caitlin starts weakly.

Joe lifts a hand.

"Don't." He says, shaking his head. "We can't just leave them there. We just need to, to…"

Joe looks around to the people standing around him.

"My dad's right." Iris tells them. "We need to do something."

Caitlin goes to a control table and swipes her hand across it.

"I don't know what we can do. Barry is the only one who can," She looks up to Jay. "Unless."

"I can do it." Jay finishes her thought. "I can use velocity 9 and travel across the breech."

Joe points to Caitlin.

"Is this true?" He demands.

Caitlin's eyes flicker from Jay to the breech.

"It'll use up the speed velocity nine gives you almost all at once." She thinks out loud.

"But it should work, shouldn't it?" Jay asks.

Caitlin pauses a moment before nodding her head.

"Probably?"

Another minute later and Jay raises the injector to his arm and shoots a dose of velocity 9 into his bloodstream. Orange lightning flashes through his eyes and he doesn't waste a moment before racing into the breech.

A skipped heartbeat or two later and Jay returns with Cisco and Jesse.

Caitlin rushes forward to envelope Cisco with the device to close the breech tucked under her arm and glances knowingly to Jesse.

"What happe-" She's cut off as Jay returns with Wells and proceeds to collapse on the stairs, dragging in harsh breathes.

Joe and Iris wait for one more familiar face who doesn't appear.

"Where's Barry?" Joe asks and sees Cisco stiffen.

"Close the breech." Wells tells them.

"What?"

"Close the breech."

Joe steps toward the genius from the other Earth.

"Where is Barry?"

Wells stops and glances around the room. He looks like he's about to say something when he makes a break to Caitlin, grabbing the device from her arm and throwing it to the breech.

Joe lets out a strangled shout and throws himself at Wells.

"What did you do?" He shouts, but is held back suddenly by Cisco or at least Cisco attempts to hold him back as the portal disappears in on itself.

"Joe, JOE, he had to. He had to." Cisco tries to defend Wells.

"Someone tell me exactly what's going on here." Barry's adoptive father demands.

Neither Cisco nor Wells can met Joe's eye.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two. For those who are wondering, I will update this story on either Friday, Saturday, or Sundays and I'll really try to put up two chapters a weekend. Thanks for staying for chapter two.**

 **Review responses:**

 **Silver's Dream100- I really wanted it to happen this way, also. Obviously. Thank you for liking it and I hope you keep up with my story.**

 **GremlinX- You haven't seen anything yet. I've got plans for this story.**

 **Erynion- Thanks for reading and thanks for the compliment. Comments like that make me smile.**

 **The Flash Addict- I was also waiting, but then the lightbulb hit me and this was born.**

 **FastestManAlive- OMG THANK YOU FOR BEING SO ENTHUSIASTIC IN YOUR REVIEW. I CAN'T ANSWER ANY OF THOSE QUESTIONS, THOUGH BECAUSE THAT WOULD GIVE AWAY THE STORY. *Takes a deep breath* You're gonna get a lot of reactions to the news in this chapter and there will be plenty of Barry!hurt but more on a background position because the point of view is never going to actually be on Barry per say. It's all about his friends and family having to save the day. Also, I love, love, love your type of review. It's something I can really answer to.**

 **AlienGhostWizard14- This is not a one shot. Don't worry. I'll be updating on the weekends each week.**

 **Flash Fan- AHHHHH, yeah I'm continuing it. Can any of you read the "Status: In progress"?**

"Zoom trapped him in a, a carbine cage." Cisco starts quietly. The room grows infinitely large around him. "It couldn't be frozen through and Barry wasn't able to phase through it before…" His voice trails off as he lifts his gaze to over Joe's shoulder. "Before Zoom got back."

Joe's mouth opens then closes when he turns to where the breach was.

"And you left him." Joe finally finishes.

Wells takes a step forward and lifts his arm from around his daughter.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop." Joe shakes his head. "Just stop." He seems to drag himself back to the entrance. He stops at the sliding door and leans with a hand against the doorway. "You know, this was your war, to go to Earth-2 and save your child. I understand that. I get that."

"Joe, it's not his fault." Cisco tries.

Joe ignores him and continues.

"No, that, that is something I'm not going to accept. From the moment he got here, it's been all about him. He didn't care who got hurt along the way."

"That's not fair."

"He stole Barry's speed, Cisco."

"He stopped before really going through with it."

Joe barks out stiff laughter, but doesn't seem to even know how to keep saying what he had been trying to warn the team about this entire time.

Silence echoes through the room.

"I'm going to get him back." Wells finally says. "I will fix this."

Joe looks hard at the doctor.

"I'm getting really sick of you saying you'll fix all of the problems you created."

"Yeah, well, I'm getting really sick of making them, but," Wells stops himself and takes in a ragged breath. "I will fix all of it."

"Everything?" Joe asks with raised eyebrows.

"Yes."

"You'll open a doorway back to Earth-2?"

"Yes."

"You'll find Barry?"

"Yes."

Cisco, Caitlin, and Jesse's eyes switch back and forth between the two men.

"You'll actually have a way to open that carbon whatever cage."

"Even if I have to do it with a nail and a piece of string." Wells answers smoothly.

Joe purses his lips and stares at Wells for a moment more. The room waits for Joe to explode again.

"Good." Joe starts. "And this time, when you go, I'm coming too. No more sitting on the sidelines and letting you guys do whatever the hell you want." Joe appears like he wants to say more, but still leaves the room with an equally devastated-looking Iris following closely behind.

Iris does give Wells a stare that is slightly more sympathetic as she leaves, Wells thinks. Maybe.

Caitlin speaks up from the corner.

"Did you say you couldn't _freeze_ through the cage?"

Neither Cisco or Wells speak up to answer her for a tense moment.

"Let's discuss this a little later, Dr. Snow." Wells decides for them. "I'm going to get Jesse situated in a room."

Caitlin looks over to Cisco who nods his head.

"It's gonna take some explaining."

*******************************Star Labs Hallway********************************

"Dad." Iris tries to get her father to slow down. "Dad, talk to me."

Joe spins around to face his daughter.

"I'm sorry, Iris. I just, I can't right now."

She stops him from turning back around by placing a hand on his shoulder, using her other hand to push back a thick strand of hair. Her worried eyes take in her father.

"Well, you have to. Talk to me. Please."

Joe shrugs defeat and moves over to the far wall of the hallway.

"I want to kill that man."

"We need him."

"I know that. We're in his place now. It's our family trapped by Zoom and we need Wells to help save him. I'm trying to play nice."

"That's how you play nice?" Iris asks then quickly decides to move away from that. "Dad," She sighs. "Everyone's been making decisions in this. I don't think we can just blame it on one guy."

Joe smiles for a split second.

"You know I once said almost the exact same thing to Barry."

"There you go. I'm sure that turned out okay."

Joe shakes his head.

"It was about the singularity. What started all of this."

Iris's face darkens, but she doesn't give in.

"This just hasn't turned out okay, yet."

"I hope you're right. I know that everyone here, most everyone here is going to do whatever needs to be done, but I really hope you're right."

**************************Star Labs Command Center*****************************

Cisco looks around the familiar room to Caitlin.

"We went to the Star Labs on Earth-2." He starts finally. "It was a lot less abandoned and partially earthquaked than this one."

"Sorry about that."

"Yeah…"

Caitlin stares at Cisco, waiting for him to continue.

"There was other us's there. That's where the freezing came from. We were both metahumans."

She blinks.

"I was a metahuman?"

"Yep, you could freeze things."

He lets her take a second to let that sink in.

"Woah. How did you find me?" She asks and Cisco refrains from flinching at the memories. "Were we both still working in Star labs or were we-"

"We were with Zoom. Both of us."

"What?"

"We worked for Zoom. We were the reason that he captured Barry." Cisco bows his head and mutters. "More me than you. You helped us in the end at least. All I did was knock out Barry and try to convince myself to join the darkside."

A voice startles them from outside in the hallway entering the room.

"So, you met Reverb and Killer Frost?" Jay asks, but doesn't really need an answer just from looking at Cisco's face.

Cisco's eyes blazed up for a moment.

"You knew about them?" Cisco demands. "And you didn't tell us? That would have been really good information to know."

Jay puts up his hands.

"I'm sorry, but I was sure Zoom wouldn't use them against you. He was always extremely careful about using the metahumans in town and you two, the other two, were his most valuable."

"You thought wrong. Zoom killed Reverb and," Cisco stops in his track, glancing over to Caitlin. "Well, Zoom killed Reverb when he went too far with fighting Barry. Killer Frost is probably dead too."

Jay clenches his fists.

"Cisco, this is what I wanted to protect you guys from. They weren't good people and the worked for even worse ones. I thought it would only hurt you to meet them. They aren't you or reflections of-"

"Killer Frost helped us in the end. She was the only reason we escaped."

Caitlin's eyebrows raise, but she stays silent to let Cisco finish.

"That seems a lot Caitlin to me. Reverb, though…"

"Reverb had no friends. No one to support him. He had nothing."

Cisco grips the edge of the desk next to him harder.

"Why was he so powerful, then? He could do things with his powers that I've never even dreamed of." Cisco throws his palms into the air. "He took down The Flash with wierd vibration beams coming from his hands."

"Like I said, you're different people." Jay says again.

Caitlin looks Cisco over with concern.

"Cisco, why don't you take a break from the story. We don't need all the answers right now. You've clearly been through a lot." She tells him.

"No," He starts. "We need to start finding a way to get Barry. I need to finish this."

**************************Star Labs Medical Bay Four*****************************

"I'm fine really, dad." Jesse says, scratching at the needle in her arm. The slow drip of the saline bag fills the silence.

"You're dehydrated."

"I could've just had a Gatorade. They have those here, right?"

"Yeah." Wells says, smiling and shaking his head. "They have Paunch Burger too."

She grimaces.

"Not your favorite?"

"You know that." Jesse says.

"Yes, I do."

The two sit in silence, looking for something to say.

"What now?" Jesse asks and Wells notices that her voice doesn't have the note of fear it did back on Earth-2.

"Now," Wells starts, looking down at his watch. "We're going to have dinner, find you some different clothing, and then you are going to pick a room and go to bed."

"I was kind of hoping for some answers for the more distant future."

Harrison's jaw sets and he can't seem to bring himself to look away from his newly found daughter.

"I promised them I would help rescue The Flash and-"

"You're going to do it, right?" Jesse interrupts him and looks up to him with an shielded look in her eye.

"Yes."

His daughter looks relieved.

"That's good. He seemed really, well, good I guess."

Wells nodds.

"That's definitely one way to describe him." He starts. "There's more, though. Jesse," He shifts in his chair. "Zoom needs to be eradicated. I intend to help with that too."

"That's great."

"And I don't want you anywhere near it."

"What?" The corners of Jesse's lips tilt downward. "I can help. I was in Zoom's hideout for weeks. I've been watching him this entire time."

"I doubt you were able to see anything that would be prevalent-"

"Dad, I was in Zoom's lair for weeks. I saw horrible things, relevant or not. I need to help you."

"I can't let you do that. You've been put in too much danger as it is." Wells tells her, folding his arms. "There's a safe house that I created a long time ago on Earth-2 and this Harrison Wells set up the same one here before he was killed. It's still there and I want you to go."

"No. I refuse. I can help."

"You can't help."

Jesse peels off the tape and pulls out the needle from her arm. She huffs as she gets up from the bed.

"I thought you were different now, but you're exactly the same."

"Jesse." Wells attempts to stop her. She jerks away.

"Goodnight, dad." She tells him and walks out of the room.

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, the team takes a page from the past to get a plan for the future.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

 **Hey, guys. It's the weekend again. You know what that means.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Silver's Dream100- Thank you. Keeping them on point is definitely trying. Also, I wouldn't mind one bit if you told me how my work on the special character at the end of this chapter is.**

 **.5- Here it is!**

 **AlienGhostWizard14- Thanks, enjoy this chapter too.**

 **FastestManAlive- Haha, you're seriously my favorite. It really does stink for Joe, though and everyone else isn't doing so great with dealing either. You're definitely going to be seeing the tension coming through while they're doing their best to get to Earth-2. Oh, and I'll forgive your grammar mistakes if you forgive mine.**

 **KDesai- Barry whump you shall receive. At some point. Jk, you'll get just a smidge in this chapter. More coming in the next.**

 **RatchetLover- Here you go. Sorry, if you wanted it sooner, but the weekends are my writing times usually.**

 **Guest- I'm updating. I'm updating. Geez. You readers are puuuushyyyy. I love you guys, anyway.**

 **RedQ- Just for you, I added the last bit of this chapter. A prime example of if you ask, you might just receive.**

 **Anonymous- Everyone wants to see Barry. Barry is awesome. Barry is amazing. Barry is in this chapter.**

"Okay, you're geniuses. What's the plan?" Joe asks the people sitting with him around the table. "How do we get to Earth-2?"

The past few hours had been filled with eating, sleeping, staring at a wall and processing exactly what had happened earlier that day. Or late that last night. None of them payed much attention to the time. There were much more pressing concerns.

Joe drums his hand against the desk and waits.

"It's been four hours." Barry's adoptive father begins again. "Now, I know four hours isn't, isn't anything, but I won't let Barry stay trapped there with that thing a second more than he has to."

"Nine hours." Cisco murmurs. "Add five hours to that from when we were on Earth-2."

Joe digs his nails into his palm.

"Joe, you have to understand that this is really, really hard for us too. Barry is our best friend." Caitlin tells him quietly.

Joe nods in response and looks to the scientists.

Cisco is the first to begin.

"Okay, so a plan. We need a plan. We could, we could…" Cisco bobs his head from one side to the other and mouths a few words silently. He snaps his fingers. "We could build a machine that harnesses breach particles to-"

"I don't think either of those things exist." Caitlin doesn't let him continue his thought.

"I'm brainstorming."

"So am I." She tries to defend herself.

"Your like brain umbrella-ing me."

"Why would I let you continue on the wrong train of thought?"

"It's more process."

"Let's try not to bite each other's head off right now." Wells breaks up the two.

Cisco and Caitlin noticeable hang their heads.

"Now, normally the process to even begin to open another doorway between the worlds would take months of research, experimentation, not to even mention the supplies, to get even close to a point of success."

Shoulders around the table sag down.

"And even if we do finally open a portal, who would know where it would go to. It stands to reason that if there are two worlds, there could be a billion more." Wells finishes.

"No," Joe shakes his head. "I refuse to accept that. You guys have to find a faster way."

"There's not a faster way to break grounds on a practically unexplored area of-"

"It's not unexplored." Caitlin tells Wells. "We did it once. We can do it again."

"You opened a black hole over the city. I don't believe that is the reaction you want to have this time, especially without a true speedster to stop it."

"So, we won't go the route of the black hole. We find some way to use a closed breach to open another breach." Cisco throws out.

"The breaches were all just tears. They wouldn't have been strong enough to leave us enough residue to work with."

"Back to square one." Jay murmurs.

"Maybe, Zoom will open a breach for us." Caitlin folds her hands in her lap. "He need Dr. Wells to steal Barry's speed. It's reasonable to assume that there could be someway for him to-"

"No, I wouldn't count on that." Earth-2 Wells insists. "Zoom may be smart, very smart, but I don't believe he has knowledge in hyper advanced physics or mechanics. He uses people for almost everything. The real accomplishment we need to be concerned of with Zoom is him finding a way to steal Barry's speed without me."

"Well, this is depressing." Cisco says, glumly tugging at his jacket collar.

Jay studies Cisco for a moment.

"You know, it would really help us is to see what Zoom is up to." The once speedster starts from his corner. "Now, who has the ability to do that in this room?"

Cisco looks up to Jay.

"You've done it in the past."

Cisco's mouth curves up just a little bit.

"That I can do." Cisco says then adds. "Once we figure this out."

"Okay, at least we have a way to keep an eye on Zoom, but none of that matters if we can't actually get to him." Joe says and leans back in his chair.

The lights flicker on and off. Caitlin coughs.

"Sorry, the earthquake did some damage to the light systems."

Harrison suddenly sits up in his chair, eyes darting to Cisco.

"What did you say before?" Harrison points to the young genius.

"Um," He looks to the left. "I'm going to go all vibe on Zoom?"

"Before that. About the breaches."

Cisco shakes his head and stares down at the table.

"I don't know, what did I say? Something about opening a breach from-"

"From an old breach." Wells interrupts.

Harrison gets up from his chair storms from the room, leaving the others to stare at his back as he leaves. Cisco is the first one to spring up from his chair to follow him.

"You said that wouldn't work."

"I said that an old breach would be to weak to work." Wells shouts back and keeps on track to the bullpen.

"Yeah, and it wouldn't. So where are you going with this?"

Footsteps fill the hallway as everyone tries to keep up with the two.

"What are you thinking?" Caitlin asks them as she walks up behind the two men, one of which was frantically scribbling on the board.

"We can't," Harrison pauses to pick up a different colored marker. "Use an old breach because it wouldn't have been powerful enough, but it's possible…" He trails off, sliding the marker across the board to write down a steady stream of numbers and figures.

Cisco has to wait a moment to see the problem working itself out before sucking in a breathe

"We could use the original source." Cisco says, studying the board.

Caitlin's eyes crinkle.

"We can't just create another black hole."

"True, creating a black hole would be extremely dangerous, but the black hole was not the original source. The black hole was a reaction from the original source."

"The time portal was the original force, then?"

"Yes and while I've only had the chance to glance over the designs and science to what you created-"

"How did you get access to that?"

"Not important. I believe that might be a viable route to go. If we could recreate the portal, in a controlled environment, of course, then there is a possibility to have a similar result as before."

Cisco and Caitlin glance at each other.

"That might work, but last time we needed Barry's speed force to open up the time portal." Caitlin tells Wells.

Jay steps forward.

"And even with Velocity 9, I'm not nearly fast enough to do that. I never was." Jay speaks up.

"Last time you opened up an entire black hole. We've established that as not being our goal." Wells starts, tapping his chin with the marker. "All we'll need to get the time portal open long enough to create just one more breach is...A drop. A drop of pure speed force. Nothing artifical from velocity 9. That could have all kinds of unwanted consequences."

"Where are we going to get that?" Caitlin asks. "Without Barry, it's kind of impossible."

Wells stops writing and shifts from one foot to another, looking of at them with some discomfort.

"I might be able to help with that." Wells rubs the back of his neck. "Whenever, you empty any kind of syringe, there's always leftover residue in the syringe. The same can be said for the tool I used to give Zoom Barry's speed."

Joe stands up straighter.

"You can use that? It'll be enough?"

"For our purposes...I believe so."

"I think we actually have a way to get back to Earth-2." Cisco murmurs to himself as if he doesn't actually believe it.

"Yes, we just might." Wells steps back from the whiteboard to analyze what he had written all together. "Now, while I'll will require your assistance on this very soon, Cisco, I think it would be best if you began trying to look in on Barry."

Cisco's eyebrows spring up.

"Oh, yes." He straightens his jacket. "I will go and do that."

"Okay." Wells waits.

Cisco looks at him blankly for a moment.

"Right now?" He asks. "Right now. Okay."

The younger man turns to leave then stops at the door, not moving forward or turning back to them. Wells crosses his arms behind his back and stares at the back of the young metahumans head.

"Cisco," He starts. "Barry will be okay. Whatever you see, Barry will be okay. We're going to make sure of that."

Cisco lets out a deep breath and goes to find his glasses.

"Got it."

The marker squeaks across the board, snapping the leftover awkwardness from the room. It's accompanied by the clicking of Caitlin's heels as she moves over to pick up a clipboard from the computer terminal along with multiple files labeled in different colors.

"I'd better go with him." She tells the group. "Jay? You want to come?"

Jays nods and Joe pipes in.

"I'm coming too."

"The more the merrier." Wells says, trying to sweep them out of the room.

Wells stares at the board, looking at their reflections on its edge as they leave. His eyes stay on the spot for a long bit of time after the room is finally emptied.

His thoughts fill with his daughter once again before he can stop himself.

The scientist knows Jesse would be even more furious at him than she has been if she knew that they had started on the potential solution to getting back to Earth-2 without her.

All she wanted was to get back to their earth again. It was like Jesse didn't even realize the monster that was roaming the street out there, looking to put their heads, everyone's heads on a stick.

Harrison's gaze wanders to his own reflection on the glass.

 *********On Earth-2************On Earth-2**************On Earth-2*************

Zoom's gaze wanders to his own reflection on the glass.

He barely looks down to his captive in the cage or his icy former associate laying limp on the ground. He already knows that the two are of no danger to him anymore. Not that they ever were.

Zoom contemplates waking up his newest addition to the collection. The once thick gash across the Flash's brow was already to the point of being just a thin nick. The only evidence of its existence being the red dried on his eyebrow. The rest of his wounds were closing along more or less the same.

No, he would leave the boy for now on his glass bed.

Something must be done about his improving condition, though. It just wouldn't do if the Flash escaped from his cell. Wasting the few minutes it would take to get the other speedster back in the box didn't suit him.

Yes, he would have to do something. Looking over to Killer Frost, Zoom finds a solution to his problem rather quickly.

He already had much to move into place before the others came back for their hero.

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, Cisco struggles to get a first hand glance at Earth-2.**

 **By the way, the science in this chapter is completely made up. You probably knew that, though.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Review Responses:**

 **Erynion- Let me just say, this chapter definitely takes care of that checklist in your review. I hope that takes care of some of your hiatus jitters. Those get me too. A lot. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **FastestManAlive- Hello, again! :) Barry just happens to show his beautiful face in this chapter again so miss him no longer. Well, no longer till the end of the chapter, but someday we'll get to his rescue. Maybe...I can't give up all of my secrets.**

 **Guest- Thanks!**

 **KDesai- I really appreciate it and here you go.**

 **Crimson Comet- Never, I shall nuke E2 and never show it again. Just kidding. The Barry there is to nerdorable to nuke.**

 **Tospringe- Jay is still alive. Although at this point, I'm very confused on which Jay it is that's helping them (Or was helping them on the show. That one's dead. Real dead. Sorry, if I spoiled it for someone, but you should totally have seen that episode by now.) right now. That might be an interesting storyline to develop in this story a little later.**

 **RatchetLover- Here you go.**

 **JackFrost23- Here you go.**

 **WEast- Thank you! Although, I'm an curious if you really do know where I'm going with it. Maybe, it's all some elaborate trick. Huh, huh?**

 **Guesty- Thanks! The update is now.**

Cisco closes his eyes once again and takes a deep breath.

"Do you see anything yet?"

The young man rips the goggles off his face as the woman in question's words float to his ears. He huffs to himself, pushing his hair back.

"Yeah, actually I saw the answers to all of our problems, but I decided to keep quiet about it just because."

Cisco hears her sigh behind him.

"Okay, I can take a hint."

"Good." He breathes out, trying to ignore the people obviously shifting in their chairs around him and slips to goggles back on.

Cisco raises his hands to his temples. He tries, oh, he tries to concentrate on looking into Earth-2 with every ounce of brainpower he can muster.

All he gets is black.

"I can't do it. The goggles aren't helping this time."

"Maybe if you touched an item from Earth-2? I'm sure Dr. Wells has something." Caitlin suggests. "Having an actual connect seemed to help you in the past."

"I just, I don't know. It doesn't feel exactly right this time. I keep thinking about Earth-2 and Zoom and his lair, but it's like there's nothing there."

"Maybe, you're thinking about the wrong thing." Joe pipes in.

Cisco stiffens, but doesn't take off his glasses in response. Joe takes that as permission to continue.

"Think about Barry." The father continues. "Cisco, we all heard what Wells said to you and I know it's scary. I don't think I've ever been more scared in my entire life. You can't let that stop you."

Cisco turns his head just an inch toward Joe's voice.

"How do you get past it?"

A heavy pause passes between them as Joe seems to weigh his response.

"You don't get past fear. Fear is always going to be two feet ahead of you and two feet behind you no matter what. You just have to get above it."

Cisco rolls his shoulders.

"Is that your way of telling me to suck it up?" He asks and waits, but Joe doesn't answer. "Okay, yeah. No more stalling."

And he thinks about his best friend in the entire world. Worlds.

It's unusual how hard it can be sometimes to come up with things to think about on a certain subject on the spot. At first, all that came to mind was the first time he met Barry. Well, the first time he met conscious Barry.

Those months he had speculated a thousand times what coma guy might be like. Cisco thought up a thousand different scenarios. He had to admit that none of them were even close to the guy waking up with superspeed and joining him and Caitlin to make the most awesome super criminal fighting team. Not that he would ever say that in front of The Arrow. Or Felicity. Or Diggle.

Even with going through all of the guy's files with his diploma and achievements at Central City police, he kind of assumed Barry would be a jerk jock type. How was he supposed to know that abs could be a side effect of being hit by lighting?

Then, the next memory came of the first time Barry almost died. As the Flash.

He was in a tornado. Just running around it at super speed.

Who could even think back through all of the countless times that Barry almost died?

What could he even consider almost dying at this point?

Barry was always getting in danger from the moment he woke up. The weather guy. The clone guy. The poison gas guy. Snart.

He stops himself.

It was crazy, but like a switch, his thoughts went back to all the unextraordinary moments that just happen when you spend so much time with a person.

Lunches and ping pong and trying to act cool at bars.

Most of them were with Caitlin too.

God, he screwed up.

Click.

His vision warps from the black of being behind the darkened glasses to the dark of the curtains between the worlds.

Every time he vibes, it's like being sucked into a whirlpool. There's no water in the whirlpool, though. It's just air. Flying through the air on the darkside of the moon.

That feeling is fleeting and the moment is over quickly as Cisco opens his eyes to find himself inside of a terrifyingly familiar cave. There's only one overhead light on now, shining light onto Cisco that feels brighter than the fluorescents in the lab.

His breath hitches as his gaze it torn to the left.

Barry is in the same place as before. He's disturbingly in the same place as before.

There is something very different this time, though.

The shallow puffs of air escape the speedster's mouth like a puff of fog and Cisco walks closer to the glass without even moving his legs.

Barry's eyes are open and staring straight through Cisco to the door behind him. They blink hazily a few times as if he could almost catch a glimpse of his friend staring at him from the other world.

"Barry." Cisco whispers to himself.

He kneels down to look closer at the other figure lying prone on the ground.

"And Killer Frost."

The cold metahuman appears to be very much alive and very much unconscious inside of the cage.

Barry had moved to the very other corner of the cell with his body pressed tightly to the glass in an attempt to get away from the source of the fallen temperature of the box.

Cisco could almost feel the cold himself.

"What did Zoom do to you?" Cisco asks himself, trying to calculate just where his friend's condition would be spiralling to if he stayed in that temperature for an extended period of time. He wasn't a doctor, but Caitlin will need to know this information.

A bolt of lightning snaps into the room, sending Cisco to scramble back even though he wasn't actually there.

"Hello, Flash." The dark blue figure growls and Barry struggles to get back up to his feet.

"What do you want from me?" Barry demands, pressing a fist against the glass. "My friends escaped. You failed."

"This has only just begun."

"You're wrong. The breach was closed, wasn't it? You have no way to, to," Barry has to force his way through a shiver that racks his body."Take what you want."

Zoom makes a sound akin to chuckling that cut through Cisco to his core.

"The team you put together will find a way to open it again."

"It's impossible."

The finality of his last statement reaches Cisco almost as badly as Zoom's words.

"It's interesting how you are the one to deny a chance of rescue." Zoom rasps. "They will come for their hero just as surely as they were destined to leave their hero here in the first place."

Barry winces and Zoom tilts his head.

"Does it bother you that they left you?"

Cisco holds his breath.

"What? No, I told them to leave. They had to." Barry slides his hand back to his side.

"Only as much as I had to take what belongs to me and will continue taking what belongs to me."

Cisco forces himself to get closer to the dark speedster even though the fear of getting near even the vibe image of Zoom is paralyzing. He walks by the speedster, looking over only once to see to hulking figure staring at Barry like a hunter stares at a gun on his shelf.

"So, what's your plan this time?" Barry speaks again finally. "Are you going to keep me in this cage forever? Too afraid to fight me, so you're going to stick me in a freezer."

Time seems to slow in the room.

"No. You won't stay here forever. This place has become far too easy to find it seems and I want the final battle place to be slightly more...challenging for myself."

Barry shakes his head.

"There are no more battles." He insists. "It's over."

"You are not the only piece in this game, Flash."

"This isn't a game." Barry slams his palm against his cage.

"Oh, do not misunderstand me. There are not two sides equal enough to claim to be fighting against each other. You are already dead in my mind."

Zoom runs past Cisco, shocking the man and Cisco suddenly sees flashes of lights that appeared whenever he had first entered into the vibe.

He feels himself being pulled back toward his Earth.

"No." He says to no one and tries to concentrate back to the scene before him.

Zoom is in the cage. He is in the cage just like he had been when everything went wrong the last time.

The vision in front of him fades to black, the only thing Cisco can make out is noise.

"And soon, very soon you will be dead outside of my mind also."

And a scream..

Cisco tears off the noise stops as he finds himself back in the lab room and away from the Earth-2 nightmare.

Caitlin looks strangely at him as he draws in one breath after another in a panic to calm himself down.

"What did you see?"

Cisco blinks and looks down.

"Barry." He answers. "I saw Barry."

Joe practically jumps out of his chair to step forward to Cisco. He places both of his hands onto the younger man's shoulder.

"Cisco, is he alright?" He asks, his voice holding the smallest shake.

"Um, I think so. He was talking, but the cell was really cold this time and Zoom, Zoom went in there...again."

Joe throws up his hands to stop Cisco.

"What? Slow down. Barry was talking?"

"Yeah, to Zoom."

"And what did they say?" Caitlin asks.

Cisco shakes his head.

"Cisco, what did they say?" Joe raises his voice.

"I don't, I don't know. Zoom was taunting him and, and he said that was moving Barry. Killer Frost was in the cage."

"Killer Frost was in the cage?"

"Stop repeating me." Cisco practically shouts. "Okay, stop it. Yeah, she was in the cage with him. She was making it really, really cold. I don't think Barry was doing well with it...I can't believe she's alive."

"Oh, my god." Joe uses his entire palm to rub at the anxiety that was clouding his vision. "That's Caitlin's double, right?" He asks and Cisco nods. "Barry's still alive." Joe repeats. "Hurt, but alive."

"Yeah, Zoom just looked like he was trying to keep him contained, weak. He knows we're trying to figure out a way to come back and rescue Barry. I think he's planning on moving him."

"Okay, well, there's no way we'll have a chance of opening a breach before that happens, but if you found him once, we can do it again."

Cisco stares ahead for a moment.

"We need to be ready this time. Really, really, really ready. I don't know how yet, but we have to find a way to actually put an end to this."

"Of course." Caitlin says. "I don't think that's ever not been the plan."

"Then, why isn't this over yet?" Cisco raises his voice slightly.

Caitlin throws up her hands.

"Hey,-"

"I know, I know...I'm sorry." Cisco lowers his voice. "It's just, it's just-"

"What?" Joe asks. "What is it?"

Cisco doesn't look down this time. He stares straight into their eyes.

"Zoom said he was setting everything up for, for the final battle."

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, technology is the game here as the team scrambles to begin to put things into place.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

 **I'm getting pretty excited guys. The ideas in my head are starting to find their ways into the story. Oh, exciting development. I just learned how to make that line that separates out the chapter.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Guest- Thank you. I try.**

 **FastestManAlive- Killer Frost is alive and...pretty well, I guess. She's definitely not enjoying being stuck in a cage. Oh gosh, I can't hurt Barry too much. Zoom needs him. I need him. Wow, that sounded more creepy than I intended it to sound.**

 **Crimson Comet- Zoom just really seems like the type to me who would plan on having one last epic showdown to prove his superiority before taking down his enemy. The last hooray of sorts. He's not one for anticlimactic endings. Oh, and it's funny you mentioned the masked man when you did because..Well, you'll just have to read this chapter.**

 **JackFrost23- I have to admit...I'm not sure I understood most of that comment, but I did get the gist of it. What if Zoom isn't from Earth-2 or if he is, what if it's from the future? Interesting idea, but will it be right for this fanfiction? That was my hint to say that I'm creating my own Zoom identity and masked man identity.**

 **Guesty- And it's a long cliffhanger too if you're talking about the whole final battle idea. The final battles not going to be ready till it's ready. Zooms got plans and it's not like even his plans will always go on without some bumps in the road.**

 **Chuckelise- Thanks!**

 **Guest- I'll make sure to**

* * *

Jesse wrinkles T-shirt after T-shirt as she packs a Star Labs duffle bag full of whatever clothing she had found in the multitude of shutdown gift shops.

She laughs like the taste of a lemon at the bright pink one at the bottom of the pile and throws it out to the very end of her temporary bunk. It lands in the heap with the other too bright or too something or another clothing items.

The bag zips closed and she flops onto the blankets.

There are a thousand arguments she could make to her father. There were dozens that she had already made. The thing is, though, a big part of her wanted to leave.

The people here seem great, but they all look at her like some victim girl, the only thing they knew about her and the only thing they'll really have time to know until they get their friend back.

And she's tired. Really, really tired.

And she's wide awake. Really, really wide awake.

If her father won't let her do anything here, then she can do her work at this safe house. She's seem one of her father's safe houses before and it had a lab any institution would be jealous over. Hopefully, this one would relate.

There was something she needed to do before she left.

Looking at the finger, she curls her hands in and out.

Jesse had been hesitant to say anything from the moment she got to this earth and saw him. Jay. His name was Jay. The masked names flashes through her mind.

It could mean nothing. Absolutely nothing.

He was a hero back on her earth and he seemed to be a hero here. She saw the videos of him saving those people on the Velocity drug. They trusted Jay. Caitlin seemed to feel more for him than just trust.

The masked man's reaction, though.

Could he have just been surprised, shocked even over finding out Jay was alive on Earth-2? Earth-1. She shook her head, trying to get used to them calling their earth Earth-1.

Maybe, he was a friend.

Maybe, he was an enemy.

Maybe, it doesn't matter who the masked man was. Maybe, it just matters that she help the team in whatever way she could. She would give them any information that might be useful. She would even help them on her own wherever it was her father was sticking her.

Jesse keeps all that in mind as she swings the bag over her shoulder and scans the room one last time.

Some time by herself will be good for her. Zoom left her...wary. Wary of everything. That can't always be a good thing.

The duffle feels a lot heavier than she imagined it would be. She's traveled quite a bit in her life and while this was by far one of the lightest of the packing she's ever done, she feels like Atlas.

His newspaper crinkles shut, as Jay is the first to notice when she walks into the lab. The front page article has bold words with The Flashes name and there was a more than likely chance the same could be said about the inside.

Jay clears his throat.

"Hey, you're heading out now?"

Jesse scoff at him acting like she was just stepping out on some grocery run.

"Yeah, or at least in like the next hour."

"Okay." Jay nods.

Her father looks up from the machine that was slowly taking place in the center of the room. Cisco stands up to follow and wipes midnight black oil onto the sides of his pants. Jesse once again wonders how her father always seems to keep his hands so clean when working on something.

"I won't keep you waiting. We should head out now." Wells motions over to the machines. "This is as far as we can go anyway until we finish heating up the-" He stops himself and runs his hand through his hair. "Nevermind, you don't want to hear about that."

"Keep telling yourself that, dad."

Harrison purses his lips.

"I probably deserve that."

"Yeah, probably." Jesse looks over to Jay. "Um, I left a shirt on my bed. It's pink. Bright pink. Do you mind…?"

Jay blinks before her words reach him.

"Oh, sure. I can totally do that. Pink, right?"

"Yep, super pink. It's my favorite."

"Consider it done." Jay hops up from his seat and walks out of the room with just a little too much prep.

It was exactly what Jesse expects this point from them. Walking on ice around her.

"So, the pink one was your favorite? I picked that one." Caitlin says from her lab table, she is squinting from having obviously spent a long time looking into the microscope in front of her.

"Sure," Jesse dismisses the shirt. "But, look." She suddenly comes to a stand still as her entire previously thought up speech floats out her ears. "There's something you guys need to know."

"What's up?" Cisco asks, moving to getting the remaining junk off his hands with a rag.

Her father moves closer to her and resists the urge step forward to him like she had always done in the past.

"There was a man in the cage next to me in the cave."

"The one in the mask?"

"Yeah, he couldn't really speak because of the mask and, well, I guess he just didn't seem like the biggest people person anyway, but he did communicate through this number code. Barry helped me figure it out. He only said one thing." Jesse pauses.

"What?" Cisco tries to get her to continue.

"You won't like it. I don't think. I mean, it could mean nothing, but-"

"What is it, Jesse?" Harrison asks, knowing his daughter would go on forever like that.

"He only spelt out a name, Jay."

"Jay?" Caitlin repeats, her attention now completely torn from the work on her table. "J-A-Y?"

"J-A-Y."

"That's...odd."

"It gets stranger." Jesse insists. "Barry told him that Jay was on Earth-1 and the guy freaked out. Like banging on the glass and everything."

Everyone in the room seems to process the information, but Caitlin is the first to respond.

"There are a lot of explanations for that. The masked man must just know him somehow. We don't know-"

"Woah, yeah." Jesse throws up her hands and eases up. "Totally, but I just figured you would want to know everything there was I could tell you about what happened."

"Did you have any idea of who it was under the mask?" Cisco tries.

"No, no idea."

"Huh," Cisco looks down to the ground for a split second. "I mean, thanks for telling us. We'll try to figure that out."

Jesse blinks at being blown off like that.

"You're really not going to take what I said seriously? There was one other live prisoner in that cave with us. He couldn't talk at all, but there was one thing he had to get across to us so badly that he tapped for days on end three letters that he had no idea we would ever figure out."

"Don't worry." Her father tells her. "We'll confront Jay about the masked man-"

"No." Jesse insists, shaking her head. "You can't do that. It's too dangerous. What if he does have something-"

"Jay is a good man. I know him." Caitlin interrupts.

"From everything I know about Jay to this point, I truly believe that the reasons will be innocent also." Wells agrees with a trace of hesitation in his voice. "And if it's not then Dr. Snow is working on dozens of ideas to work against speedsters"

Caitlin doesn't appear to look too happy.

Jesse sighs and bites her lip.

"Okay, fine. You guys have spent time with him. You guys know him." She starts. "I just hope that trust isn't what ends up taking this whole operation down."

* * *

Jay clutches the pink in his hands until the fabric is a tight ball.

"Okay, fine. You guys have spent time with him. You guys know him." The words float to him from around the corner as he stands silently against the wall. "I just hope that trust isn't what ends up taking this whole operation down."

He doesn't yet decide whether or not he should be relieved by the reactions of the others. They remain silent. Judgemental. He can tell without even having to look at them. Their faith is like knifes.

He doesn't deserve it.

Oh, well.

It's not like he has a choice. He didn't ask for this. He didn't ask for them to be friendly and trusting and so adoring of anyone who proclaims himself a hero.

It's like they're asking for all of this to happen to them.

They need to just leave The Flash there. If Jay saw any other option, then he would save the kid in a heartbeat. There wasn't another option, though. With the breach closed, Zoom couldn't get to him anymore. No more intimidation tactics.

 _No more hope of getting your speed back._

No.

He could get his speed back here. New speed. Zoom may never be able to fulfill his promise, a promise to return Jay's speed back to him if he helped take Barry's, god knows why.

One step at a time.

Maybe, he could make up for his sins.

Cisco, Wells, Caitlin could be played against the warning Harrison's daughter gave them. He would prove himself again and again.

As many times as possible.

He could prevent them from opening a breach back up. His last sin.

Then, he could go about righting his past. He could be The Flash for Barry. It would be the only apology Jay could give him.

The guilt in the back of his mind is pushed down back into its little box and he starts the first step, making more noise than he probably should have.

It serves its purpose, though and the voices are quieted in the lab as he walks in casually with the shirt.

"Here you go." Jay say brightly. The past moment of stewing gone from his face.

"Thanks." Jesse mutters, holding his gaze a second too long.

She pushes past him out of the room and her father follows after her.

"So," Jay turns back to the group. "What'd I miss?"

* * *

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Tap.

Tap.

The masked man pauses.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Another pause.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Barry clutches his hair in his hands.

"I, I don't get it. Okay? I don't." He stutters at the other caged man.

"Just shut up. He's not going to stop." Killer Frost sneers at the hero. "And anyway, he's obviously gone crazy here. If you're right, then he's not even spelling a word."

Barry tries his best to glare at the meta while holding his aching side.

"I am right. Four d'down, four right. One down, one r'right."

Frost shakes her head as the tapping commences.

"T.A. T.A. T.A. What the hell does T.A. stand for?"

"I don't, don't know. Yet." Barry shivers. "Can you at least tr'try to make it a little less cold?"

"Can you at least try to stop talking? Consider yourself lucky. Most people would be missing a few fingers by now. A little blue on the lips won't hurt you. It goes well with the red."

Barry doesn't bother to ask her if she meant the suit or the dried blood.

"Easy for you to say."

"Yeah, aren't I just so lucky?"

The room goes silent, then Frost seems to decide to speak again. It was rare for her to be the first one to strike up a conversation.

"It's kind of weird how metal face stares at you."

Barry glances back over to the man.

"There's not really that m'much else to look at."

"It's still not quite right, though. A stare like that, it has meaning. It always has some kind of meaning.

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, an attempt to test a machine to open a new breach goes very, very wrong.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

 **Guest- Thank you!**

 **KDesai- You're very welcome.**

 **CrimsonComet- I wouldn't feel too sorry for Jay. Jay seemed to be up to no good in the last chapter. Teacher's assistant is an interesting idea, but I'll go ahead and tell you that's not it. Keep guessing, though. I love to hear what you guys think might happen. Thanks and enjoy the rest of the story!**

 **FastestManAlive- Yeah, I can't tell you anything. You'll know someday. It'll be awesome.**

 **Legendoffun- Really? You won't just log into your account by yourself? Come on. Anyway, I like your story idea, but I won't be able to work on anything Flash for a while after this story. My next project idea is for an anime. And there are two stories that I left off without finishing a while back before I got back into writing on this website. Good luck on finding another author, though. I'm sure there's someone. Thanks for reading.**

* * *

"Okay," Wells speaks into his watch. "Test sixteen, part three. Purpose to determine the maximum amount of energy that can be introduced to the central system before it overloads."

"Is recording this really necessary?" Cisco pops his head up from the other side of the bulky machine.

The thick, circles of metal were positioned into a triangle in the center of the room that held so many bad memories from the past. Cisco could practically see the time travel catastrophe happening all over again every time he blinked.

Much of the equipment was repurposed from the old breech portal that had been used in their first travels to Earth-2. Wells had been hesitant to reuse them considering their previously unstable behavior after the earthquake, but necessity trumped his discomfort.

"Yes."

Cisco waits for the older man to elaborate. Furtively, it seems. The young genius sighs and closes the panel he had been tinkering with.

"That's as good as it's going to get. Is your side okay?"

"Mines been ready for the past five minutes. I've been adjusting the positioning of the speed force container." Wells tells him, not looking up. "There will be more direct contact with it connected vertically to the circuit."

Caitlin looks over to the men from her own computer station at the side of the room and shrugs her shoulders as Cisco noticeable sends her a look.

"Thanks, Harry." He replies tightly.

Wells barely nods back.

Stepping back from the machine, the doctor stares at his latest adjustment and rubs the prickles on his chin.

"Earth to Wells." Joe asks the room.

"Yes," Wells looks up and blinks. He takes in the somewhat frustrated stares from around the room. "Sorry." He hesitates. "Jesse will barely respond to me with one word when I try to keep in contact. It's only been five days-"

"Four and a half." Cisco corrects mainly to himself.

"Four and a half days since I left her there, but-"

"Don't say anything else." Joe raises his hand. "I understand having independent children."

Harrison attempts something close to a laugh in response.

"I suppose you would."

"Okay," Cisco rooms his hand over the machine and steps over to the side of the room near a back wall. "Everyone step back in case this explodes. Or worse."

"What's the situation that could be worse than it exploding?" Caitlin asks, flipping closed the files in front of her and standing up from her chair. She makes her way over to the corner where the other scientists and Joe were conglomerating to.

"The mystery is kind of what makes it worse." Cisco murmurs. He puts his hand on a switch against the wall. "Test sixteen."

Thick steps stop him from going further.

"What are you guys doing in here?" Jay asks as he enters into the looming room. Something akin to worry is written on his face.

"Test sixteen." He says. "Duh."

"Oh, testing." Jay scans the experiment. "Should you really be in the room while doing this?"

"Yeah, it's fine. We're only doing it at like one fifth power right now." Cisco shrugs. "Although, it's not like we took that many safety precautions when we first opened the time portal."

"You mean the one that created a black hole." Wells adds.

"Haha." Cisco holds up a hand to his chest. "You wound me. Now, can we please continue with this?"

"Yes-"

"Woah. I'm not sure if this is a good idea." Jay interrupts them. "It's only been a couple days. How can you have anything even ready for testing?"

"Recycling. Lots and lots of recycling."

Jay finally seems to notice that the parts were remarkably similar to the ones that were in the other room. He doesn't seem to happy about it either.

"We basically just hauled everything from the other room into here. That was fun."

"Yeah, you hauled." Joe huffs.

"Oh," The once Speedster starts. "No one asked for my help. I thought you were still just getting things together."

Caitlin is the only one to show much of a change in expression as she bites her lip.

"That's weird." Cisco scratches his head. "Anyway, to the machine-"

"No." Jay insists and the room goes still. "You can't do that. It's too dangerous. That equipment was malfunctioning before."

"What we can't do is waste time." Joe says, his eyes hardening. "Why are you fighting this?"

"Joe…" Caitlin warns the man.

"I'm not trying to fight this. I just want to go about this the right way."

Joe takes a step toward the man.

"How are any of us supposed to look Barry in the eye once we finally find him, knowing that we took the right, safe way for us and keeping him trapped there-"

"You don't even," Jay cuts himself off and takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry. You're right. I just, I just don't want anyone else to get hurt during this."

"It's okay." Caitlin tells him. "We're all running on edge."

"So, we're back to doing this?" Cisco asks. He raises his hand up again to the panels and waves his finger around the buttons. He waves his eyebrows, waiting.

"Yes, Cisco. Please, continue." Wells insists.

"Bipolar room or what." He mutters and turns completely to the panel. The entire room lights up as he continues to enter in values to the controls. "Since you changed the speed direction, I'm adjusting the power supply to be even lower. We don't want to use up all of our speed force residue."

"Understandable."

Cisco hesitates a moment before finally pressing the last button of the sequence. It's beep was definitely the most satisfying of the bunch. The meta was finally feeling like he might be getting closer to his friend.

The machine powers up almost anti climatically. It drones softly to a start for a minute and gives the group a chance to move more toward the door as the center rings begin to glow.

The glowing starts off as only a prickle to their eyes.

"Just how much did you lower the power input?" Wells asks, looking over to Cisco. He peers over to the notepad the other engineer had been writing equations on.

"Only by a factor of one third of what we had previously lowered."

"That's not possible. You must have entered the numbers incorrectly."

"No way. I-"

The center of the room flashes unexpectedly for a split second eliciting several surprised reactions around the room. The rest of the lights on the walls fade away as the center lights up again for a longer period of time.

"What the.." Joe says then is broken from his thought by a sharp burst of sound. The noise echoes like fabric ripping and is accompanied by a new source of brightness floating in the center of the rings.

The blue and white, warping light is very familiar to the group. The uncontrolling winds and flashes are new.

Cisco and Wells are pushed over to the left corner of the room with Cisco trying for a moment to grab onto a computer terminal, but dropping the idea quickly as a wrench flies past his head.

He silently curses as he drops behind the stations.

"That was not supposed to happen." He yells over to Wells even though the scientist was only a few feet away from him and closing in.

Harrison doesn't bother to answer, but the new sheen of sweat on his forehead and the slight tremor as he reaches for something to grasp onto gives away his own feelings.

"We need to shut it off. It's too unstable and we'll lose all of our remaining speed force."

"No, duh." Cisco tries to get a look over at the others only to see them in a similar situation at the other corner of the room. "How are we supposed to do that?"

"The emergency panel."

"Emergency panel? The emergency panel! Okay. It's on the other side of the room."

Cisco scans around the stations on gets lower to look at the rolling desks wheels.

"Maybe, we can roll this over to the other room?"

"Don't bother. Snow's ahead of us." Harrison gesture of to Caitlin working her way over to the emergency controls in question.

"Awesome then."

Cisco maneuvers himself to be able to see Caitlin better.

Caitlin slides beside the wall slowly to reach the panel and reaches it within a few moments. She looks over to the scientists at the other side of the room and waits for a nod from Wells before reaching for a lever.

Her hands brushes against it just barely when it happens.

If she had pulled it just a moment sooner, then the black, blue figure wouldn't have been able to zoom into the room from the unstable portal.

She didn't, though. In fact, Caitlin was never able to even pull down on the lever because the second Zoom raced into the room was the second that the portal fully unstabilized and collapsed, leaving the new occupant of the room standing in just the dim lighting leaking in from the hallway.

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner on Earth-2, the team is forced to make a deal with the devil.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

 **Who's excited the break is over for the TV show? I know I am.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Crimson Comet- Jay is just a very shady person in this story. Not that you guys can't tell. I really like your guesses for T.A., but, unfortunately, they're not so correct. You will get another hint on his identity in this chapter. That's mainly why I'm showing the Frost and Barry scenes since this is about how Team Flash functions on their own without the Flash. The masked man will be pretty important.**

 **ChucKelise- Here it is!**

 **KDesai- Thanks! Enjoy.**

 **TrueLoveExists02- Thanks! Here it is.**

 **FastestManAlive- Yep, it's definitely tomato app. I don't even know how you figured it out. I was so careful to avoid mentioning the tomatoes.**

 **Legendoffun- There's some Barry in this chapter. I just like focusing a lot on the team having to function on their own. The Annihilator is definitely cool sounding, but not correct. Enjoy!**

 **Gwenneth- Thanks!**

* * *

Harrison Wells doesn't dare to even breath as the dark speedster stops in the small stream of light coming from the hallway.

A burst of wind rushes past him, past all of the occupants like the realization that hits all of them of the monster they had reintroduced to their world. He lets himself blink once just to see if his mind hasn't finally snapped and this is not just a terrible nightmare.

It isn't.

Joe doesn't bother keeping track of his breathing.

He could be having heart attack at this point and not notice even a twinge.

That monster is away from his son. At least, for now.

The man didn't often get to be in eyesight, in close enough proximity to jump out and touch the man he most hates in the world. And it won't give him a moment's pause if Zoom had all the speedforce in all the worlds.

His gun feels like an anchor to him more than ever and he just hoped this isn't a dream.

It isn't

Caitlin knows that she is a scientist. She knows she's been a part of this team for a very long part. She knows that she has to be strong. She can't feel this scared.

She just wishes she could stop having to tell herself that and actually just be it. She wishes it's easier.

It isn't

Cisco freezes at the sight of Zoom. The sight that was becoming much too familiar to him.

He just can't even...comprehend how this is possible. That machine is his machine. He knows it inside out and outside in and when he knows something isn't going to happen with his machines, then they don't happen. He was too careful this time.

Even if he had to work faster on this than any other project he had taken on of it's magnitude, he did it right. Why wasn't it right?

They aren't prepared for this. This isn't the plan. Zoom will take Dr. Wells. Zoom will kill them. Zoom. Will. Kill. Barry. No. It doesn't matter if this isn't the plan. They've had worse. Haven't they?

This isn't the plan.

It isn't.

Jay should have known that he couldn't escape the hole he had dug himself into. Life is never fair to him.

It isn't.

Zoom looks back over his shoulder to where the breach had stood just a moment before. His gaze quickly moved down to the slightly smoking contraptions placed around the room.

Not that anyone could tell, but his eyebrows do furrow slightly.

"Uh oh." He starts. The speedsters voice seems to carry just a hint of amusement. "You didn't mean to do this."

He can't go any further as Joe pulls out his gun and shoots out a succession of bullets at his head.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Each bullet is respectively caught by Zoom and they clink against the floor one by one. The sudden noise of the gun and the bullets fills the room.

Bang.

Joe stops.

"Trying to shoot me if futile." He says and Joe's hand shakes just barely for a blink.

Cisco seems to suddenly snap.

"Why aren't you killing us?"

The dark speedster tilts his head and glances down to the spent bullets on the ground. He doesn't answer, but just moves his gaze up to Cisco and keeps it there. Cisco does his best to hold the speedster's eyes. He kind of fails.

Kind of.

"He can't." Wells doesn't seem to be able to stop himself from beginning so he just continues on. "The breach closed again. He's trapped here in the same situation as before-"

Zoom speeds to the older scientist and pushes him against the wall with a hand wrapped around his neck.

"I can kill you anytime I wish. Never doubt that." Just as quickly as Zoom had sped over to the side of the room, he sped back to the center. Wells was left stuttering. "But it is true that I am left again missing...a piece. You will all build another breach portal."

"Why would we possibly do that?" Joe asks, his gun hanging uselessly to his side. "You're going to kill us all the second you get what you want."

"You have no choice. You're going to open another portal one way or another."

"What are you talking-"

"If you ever want to see your...son again," His voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You'll have too."

"As of now, he's safer in a world without you."

"He'll die there in less than two days without me."

The room seems to get darker around them as that truth sinks into them.

"We don't know that." Joe tries to defend them. "Barry's stronger than you know. Than any of us know."

"Oh, I'm very well aware."

Joe narrows his eyes and is about to speak when Caitlin suddenly speaks up.

"We'll open another breach for you to go through." She starts and the entire room turns to her in disbelief. Even she seems to be in disbelief of herself.

"What-" Cisco tries.

"But only on our own conditions."

"You want to make a deal with me?"

"Yes."

The speedster clicks his tongue and nods his head.

"You have thirty minutes to decide on your _conditions._ " Zoom pauses. "Just remember to be careful what you want."

With that, Zoom runs out of the room leaving the team to feel the strange pull of his absence.

"Are you insane?" Harrison Wells is the first to come back to their strange reality. He takes a few shaky steps toward the entrance to the room, avoiding stepping to close from the wall to where Zoom was just previously standing. He regains his momentum. "Zoom is not someone you can make a deal with."

"We have to try something."

"What we have to do is get far away from here before he comes back."

Cisco shakes his head and joins the argument.

"You heard him. If we run, Barry will...Barry will-"

"Die." Caitlin finished his sentence. "Cisco told me the conditions Zoom was keeping him in. Adding in his metabolism and the fact he was obviously hurt, Barry won't be able to make it long if we just abandon him."

"Everyone will die if we give in to Zoom. How can you not see this?"

"Not if we take advantage of the situation ourselves."

"Caitlin," Joe says. "We can't help Zoom. He isn't going to go through with any kind of demands we ask him for. He'll take Wells the second we open the portal and then there will be nothing to protect Barry from him."

"We'll take measures so that can't happen."

"There are no measures that could ever stop Zoom." Wells tells them.

"We'll find measures."

Harrison pushes back his hair in frustration.

"Okay, you know what. Let's say we did all of that somehow. What would we even ask Zoom for? It's not like he would just hand Barry back over to us if we ask nicely."

"I'm not that incredibly stupid. I didn't have Barry in mind."

"Fine. What did you have in mind?"

"Frost."

Wells blinks and Cisco's eyes widen.

"What?"

"Caitlin Frost. That's who we need and who we could possible get in return for opening another portal for Zoom."

"Why would we want Frost?" Joe asks. "She's a villain on Earth-2."

"And she was the only one who seemed to be able to hold Zoom back for at least a minute or so. I don't know about you, but I'm no closer to finding a way to completely slow Zoom down. The darts we've been using have barely done anything in the past. If we're going to get Barry back, we need something that can hurt him."

This information seems to give Wells a pause.

"That may be true, but Zoom will still never go through with his end of the deal even he seems to agree to it."

"I'm not sure about that." Cisco starts. "I think he might."

"Why?" Joe asks him. "He's not going to give us a weapon against him."

"Zoom wants a battle, though. He said so in one of my vibes."

"Cisco, I doubt that actually meant anything."

"It did. He said that he was setting up for a final battle and think about it. Do you think Zoom sees us as any sort of competition right now? He'll want us to have something to make it more interesting to him."

"That's a big assumption-"

"He might be right." Joe interrupts Wells. "Zoom is a psychopath. It would fit him."

"Can you even open another breach?" Jay finally raises his head to the conversation. He had been very quiet from his same spot in the corner. "It looks pretty damaged to me."

Cisco and Wells share a glance.

"It looked like a power overload." Cisco says. "I don't how that was possible, but if that's it then...yeah we can fix it."

"It will be a lot like changing a very complicated circuit board." Wells explains. "Difficult, but not too time demanding."

"What do you think, Jay?" Caitlin asks him. "You've been fighting him a lot longer than we have."

Jay looks down to the ground, thinking.

"We need to send Zoom back to Earth-2. We should do this." He finally says with some reluctance.

"This is absolutely insane." Wells tells them.

"But?" Cisco sees a but in the man's expression.

"But I don't see that any of you are going to be changing your minds anytime soon."

Cisco lets him smile just a little bit.

"We need to ask for one more things from Zoom, though." Joe suddenly adds.

"What?" Wells asks and Joe slips his gun back into his harness.

* * *

Barry leans his head against the glass and closes his eyes.

"You aren't going to pass out again, are you?" Frost asks him, looking at him with a sneer.

"Are you ever going to sleep yourself?" Barry asks, slurring his words slightly. Frost's eyes narrow, but she didn't want to even admit to herself that it was less about annoyance than worry. The stupid kid was getting to her.

"No."

"Great."

"Well, considering the last time I closed my eyes for a while, I woke up to us being wherever here is." Caitlin-2 motions around their cage's new location. "I'd rather not."

The new locations seems to be a large, empty room. The entire room actually seems to be pretty normal, clean like it had been used recently, but just cleared out with small windows near the ceiling that had been covered with sheets of metal. It's familiar even, Barry thinks. There's just something about the place that he just can't place his finger on.

"It's a shame metal face wasn't moved here with us." She says. "I could have used the eye candy."

"He was wearing a mask."

"I'm good at reading people."

"Well, I don't think that eye candy is going to help us get out of here." Barry tries to sit up a little straighter.

"We aren't going anywhere by ourselves."

"We can't just sit here forever. There had to be something we can do."

Caitlin snorts to herself.

"Just wait for your little friendsies to get back. I'm sure they'll be coming for you anytime now."

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, the team tells Zoom their conditions and the deal commences. Will Zoom go through with his end of it?**


	8. Chapter 8

Barry dies. Zoom steals his speed. Zoom terrorizes both worlds. Team Flash all live long, horrible lives knowing they didn't stop it. The end.

April Fools! HAHAHAHAHA! Imagine if I actually did that. That would be terrible. Gosh, I love April Fools Day.

 **Chapter Eight**

 **It's a Friday update! Late Friday, but whatever. Can you believe it?**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Crimson Comet- Okay, so it's not covered in metal sheets all over. Just the little window slates by the ceiling have metal coverings. That part was a little confusing. Whoops. Yeah, the deal is interesting. The real question is if Zoom will fully go through with it because you should notice something very strange about the way things go down. Pay attention to Barry.**

 **Guest- Thanks!**

 **FastestManAlive- Yep, they got separated from ole metal face. That doesn't mean he'll be gone forever, though. In fact, there will be two identity reveals in this story later on, Zoom and masked guy. Keep enjoying!**

 **RatchetLover- I updated slightly sooner than usual**

 **Guesty- Thanks!**

 **Lexi123321- I'm glad you found it too. Enjoy!**

 **Guest- Okay, I like good old Barry Thump as much as the next guy. In respect with the story and where I'm trying to take everything, though, I don't want to just have a chapter of Barry getting the you know what beat out of him. He is going to have some definite mental blows later on (And physical blows, really. Just not pure torture. Sorry.), so there's that.**

* * *

Cisco, Caitlin, Wells, and Joe are back in the bullpen when Zoom returns. After practically fixing the breach machine (they couldn't completely fix it just yet, now could they?), they weren't quite sure where to go. They weren't exactly familiar with hostage situations.

The bullpen felt like the most natural place to be, so it became negotiation central as Zoom reappears using superspeed much to Cisco's anxiety.

The man couldn't just walk into a run like a normal person for once, Cisco broads.

"Your terms?" The masked man asks. Or demands. No one there could tell.

They stand frozen for a moment before fully comprehending that this is going down now.

"Um, we want, demand that you safely release Killer Frost and bring her here to Earth-1." Cisco seems to trail off as Zoom doesn't give a hint of a reaction. Wells coughs slightly to remind Cisco to continue "And we want proof of life. From Barry."

Zoom seems to tilt his head.

"Is that all?" The figure rasps, again giving away nothing.

"Um, yes? I mean, yeah. Yes. That's it."

"Do you agree?" Wells finishes for Cisco.

"In return, you will open a breach for me to go back to Earth-2?"

"Yes." Cisco nods his head. "We'll send you back to your world. No need for either side to have to rough each other up."

"Back to Earth-2." Zoom says.

"What?"

"You'll send me back to Earth-2."

"Um, yeah. That's what we said."

The dark speedster stands in the center of the bullpen for the moment while the group holds their breath only partially convinced that the man won't kill them where they stand.

"Fine, then. I accept your terms.

It was only a matter of connecting a few wires and hitting a few switched from then. And a matter of waiting once Zoom retreats back into Earth-2. Waiting to see if Zoom would bring them what they had bartered for.

* * *

Frost bangs her hand against the glass wall again. She tries to summon the cold inside of her to her hands, but has to hold back. It's not like she is alone in here. Red pants suit is sitting no less than five feet away, asleep again. Or unconscious.

She tries to check his forehead for his temperature. Years ago, it was her silly, little dream to be a doctor or something so she has an idea of what was normal.

He is definitely not normal.

As she places her hand against his forehead, her hand heats up immediately like it always does in contact with other people.

She blinks back the snowflakes that started to cloud her vision from the memories of Ronnie, her sun.

Forget about it, Caitlin.

The Flash is still much cooler than she had expected. Speedsters were warm. Anyone with any idea of basic sciences could figure out that high speed lead to high metabolism and that leads to heat. What does that say about her?

Okay, she has to remind herself. Don't let yourself think any more. That's what got you in trouble in the first place.

The Flash.

Focus on him. He's probably got more problems than her anyway.

And Caitlin's one of them. She can't just turn off her cold like some light switch. It's always there eating away at her and now it's eating away at him with the big difference at his system not taking it too well. It might be better if Zoom would ever find time in his busy schedule of whatever to actually feed them decently.

A couple of these terrible granola bars a day between the two of them and she's about ready to think more into the idea of eating her own arm.

They taste terrible and thick.

The Flash tried to tell her about them having a super load of calories, but hearing the little chunks grate between her teeth like sand basically drowned out whatever he was saying.

She got it on her own anyway. The two of them would be dead by now if those bars didn't have something special about them.

Maybe Zoom is dead. That would be hilarious. They starved to death in some dark room somewhere because some idiot finally got lucky enough to take down the fastest, most evil man alive.

He probably isn't dead. Frost wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't just more mind games.

Her thoughts are interrupted as the very man whose death she was contemplating rears his head into the room. Wincing from the sudden heart attack, Caitlin jerks away from The Flash and stays quiet. She, at least, has the decency to keep quiet when the brave moron next to her always wants to push Zoom's buttons. Like that ever ends well for him.

Zoom doesn't say anything for a moment. He just stares at the wall like it is saying something that only he can hear.

"It's your lucky day." He finally starts, turning toward the cage.

"Really? It could've fooled me."

Darkness continues to seep between them, waiting with just as much anticipation as Caitlin for what will come next.

"Does The Flash," A sneer at the heroes made up name, "know why I brought you here to this place? Does he recognize it?"

"If he does, he's keeping it to himself." Frost says and glanced down to the speedster in question. She resists the urge to clear her throat in front of Zoom. "Why? Why would that matter?"

Zoom seems to consider this. In fact, the only awake occupant of the cell would have sworn he was about to say something to answer her. She was wrong.

Zoom's consideration lasts only a moment and is followed by a brief blur. Faster than Frost can even comprehend, Zoom runs himself into the cage with her.

"Oh, I'm getting really tired of that." She hisses, backing up against the wall.

"Don't worry. You're getting the good end of this deal."

"What does that-"

Zoom doesn't let her finish and Caitlin blacks out without even knowing why. Picking her up over his shoulders, the speedster carries her out of the cage and onto the floor on the concrete.

"Now, one more thing." The shadow glances over to the other speedster and disappears before reappearing, holding something in his hand.

* * *

On Earth-1, Team Flash found themselves in their own cages.

"He's not going to go through with it." Wells says again, staring at the screen on the iPad looking device in front of them. He keeps his voice down despite the emptiness of the cells around him. "We should just close the breach again while we have the chance."

"If he goes against his word, that's exactly what we'll do and he'll be back in the same situation as before." Cisco tells the older man.

"Besides," Caitlin adds. "If we just close it now, we'll be in exactly the same situation as before."

"Alive?"

"Going nowhere. Just because we have a way to get there doesn't mean we'll have anything to stop him when we actually do get there."

"And we won't even be able to go there when he comes back and kills us before we can even bother to trap him here again." Wells argues.

Joe turns back to them from where he is looking out the doorway.

"He won't think to find us here in the precinct cells. Not that quickly at least."

Wells doesn't answer to that. He looks back down to the video feed of the portal.

Behind him, Cisco paces around the small hallway between the cell doors and Caitlin has to actually hold her arm out to stop him.

"You're going to drive us crazy if you keep doing that."

"Sorry," He looks down. "You would just think a speedster could go a lot faster than this."

"I probably didn't help him along. It should take a minute for him to take the video."

"Proof of life." Harrison smiles. "How very cop of you."

"I can't say that it's the officer in me that wants some proof." Joe murmurs, shaking his head.

"Wait a second." Cisco alerts them. He was back in place behind Dr. Wells glaring down at the screen as if it were the cause of their troubles. "I see something."

"What?" Well squints at the video feed.

"There was a squiggle."

"A squiggle?"

"Yeah, top right corner of the portal. Something's coming through."

"It hasn't already?"

"No." Cisco answers dubiously.

"Are you sure?"

"We aren't exactly dead yet."

"Zoom won't think to look here." Joe defends his choice of hidey hole again. "We're good at least for a while."

"Yes, because why would he think to look at not only the place of employment of one of us, but one of the most heavily fortified locations other than STAR labs." Wells comments.

"Shhh." Caitlin interrupts them both. "I think-"

Caitlin stops as the figure emerges fully from the breach in a spark of lightning so quick that any of them could have missed it if they hadn't been scanning the feed with eyes peeled. Jay did miss it in fact. He was being surprisingly like a shadow since Zoom had appeared and didn't seem to want to stop anytime soon.

On the screen, a figure lays prone on the floor. She is the only thing that convinces them that it wasn't a mass hallucination. They wouldn't admit before how slim they felt the chances would be that Zoom would actually follow through with their deal.

"Guys." Cisco says, not really having any way to finish the thought. Actually he does know how to continue. "We need to get back there now. Shut down the breach, so Zoom can't just run back and forth like crazy."

* * *

When Barry wakes up, the first thing he sees is Zoom, standing above him right up against the glass.

The second thing Barry sees is what he doesn't see. Killer Frost is gone. He should have noticed that first. He can already feel it warming up slightly. The slight relief from the temperature increase is overshadowed by the empty growling of his stomach.

"Where is she?" He feels his own voice rasp slightly from the harsh conditions. Barry does his best to gather up his strength. "Where did you take Killer Frost?"

That try came out with the power he had hoped.

"Would you believe me if I told you the truth?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Barry sits up higher against the wall.

"Nothing."

"Nothing." Barry scoff, truly tired of every question being deflected and left unanswered. Nothing was making sense.

"Your friends are causing me problems." Zoom says suddenly.

The prospect of this scares Barry more than anything Zoom could do to him.

"What did you do to them?"

"I helped them. We made...a deal." Zoom tells him and Barry narrows his eyes, not daring to interrupt him in case the other speedster never starts again. "You were a part of it."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were. You're friends are very interesting. I look forward to finally fighting against them."

Barry shakes his head.

"Why? What are you doing? How was I apart of anything? I woke up barely ten minutes ago."

Zoom doesn't answer.

* * *

Caitlin goes to work quickly to make sure that Caitlin is okay healthwise. Caitlin-2.

After an initial checkup of seeing that the Earth-2 metahuman isn't going to die of anything anytime soon, Joe finally dares to ask the question.

"Do you see the…"

"I've got it." Caitlin-1 speaks up. She tears something off of the back of Killer Frost's jacket. Cisco is impressed by how unfreaked out she was managing to be.

"Wow." Cisco takes the disk from her hand and finishes pulling off the duct tape that had secured it to Frost. "Duct tape is the multipurpose tool everywhere."

Joe takes the disk from his hand gently.

They can barely stand the next few minutes of not being able to see what's on the video, but soon enough they find themselves in front of a computer screen with the disk inserted into the port.

No one speaks as the file pops up an achingly familiar face appears.

"Hey." The Barry they've seen a thousand times seems starts and they all let out a breathe and let the tape continue.

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, they all die.**

 **HAHAHAHA! I did it again! JK! This next one's real.**

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, the video is watched and new information is revealed. Pieces may be in play, but will they finally do what needs to be done?**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

 **There are so many breaks between episodes right now. Arghhhhhhhh!**

 **Review Responses**

 **TrueLoveExists02- Yeah, that would stink. I probably won't kill** _ **all**_ **of them. *Evil eyes and smirk***

 **CrimsonComet- It's just pretty depressing being in his situation and all of the messed up things he's going to learn by the end of this story (And the end of the chapter). I consider those to be mental blows, definitely. I like how you're being very suspicious of Zoom. He's not exactly the most trustworthy guy and you're right on the fact that Zoom didn't go completely through with the deal. Don't worry. Barry's probably a whole lot less cold without Killer Frost in there with him.**

 **KDesai- Thanks!**

 **Guest- Thanks also!**

 **KitKat2020- Hey, I don't recognize your username! Welcome to the review responses! Thank you for liking the story and here is the update. I always update on the weekends (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday (It's usually Sunday. Whoops.)).**

 **Legendoffun- The ending won't be for a while. I've got a good number more chapters planned out on my little story map. Thanks for reading!**

 **Guest- *Slyly moving eyes back and forth* We shall see.**

 **Guesty- Thanks!**

* * *

"Hey. This is a video being made by me, Barry Allen, as a part of the deal between you guys and Zoom." The Barry on the screen starts, raising an eyebrow. Only his face is on view from the near bottom of his neck up. "I have no idea why I was supposed to say that and I don't know what's going on over there or what I'm supposed to be doing with this video, so this is obviously great for me."

The group lets out a sigh.

"Barry's alive." Joe murmurs the reassurance to himself. Even hearing about Cisco's vibes, he hadn't been able to completely convince himself.

"Zoom actually brought us this tape." Wells doesn't seem to know whether or not to take that as a good thing.

The entire group searches Barry's face for anything that could give them more information. It's as if the entire group is his doctor and not just Caitlin, who has taken the spot closest to the screen.

"I can't get a very good look at him." She says, squinting. "The tape is too blurry."

The tape is blurring across the entire screen like it is barely hanging on from flipping to a snowy screen common on televisions decades behind the one playing now.

Barry looks to something behind the camera and narrows his eyes.

"I don't have much more time, so I'll just say it now. I love you guys so much and I know you all can do whatever you set your minds to do. I know that. Just, be careful. Please."

The screen clears for just a moment allowing the team to clearly see their friend. Joe is not the only one to take a deep breathe at the short glimpse of his son. Dark bruise looking shadows hugged his eyes and dark red flakes were sticking to the the hair and edges of Barry's face. They all wished immediately after that they could have had another second to look closer at him as it became blurred again.

"Anyway, guys," Barry starts, his voice suddenly much more somber than before. "If I don't make it back, it wouldn't be your faults. I've made my decisions to get to this point and Zoom is," Another glance behind the camera. "Well, you know."

"Man, this video is really, really depressing." Barry starts for the last time. He looks down to the ground then back up. "Make sure someone takes care of my old action figures. They need to be kept in a really specific environment. You guys know what they mean to me."

The screen goes black.

"What action figures?" Cisco is the first to ask the others. "What action figures?" Cisco repeats as the team spreads out again throughout the bullpen. "Barry never told me about any action figures."

"That's because he doesn't have any. There aren't any in his room at least." Joe tells them.

Back at the screen, Caitlin takes a second to pull back up the shot of Barry that was not blurred like the rest. She is barely able to jot down a few notes into her files before the screen suddenly goes red then black.

"Cisco…" She warns and he glances over to the screen before his eyes widen and he sprints over to the central desk control panel.

"Oh no, he didn't." Cisco shouts to himself then bangs the arm of the chair beside him as the disk is ejected from the panel in a plume of smoke. "Oh yes, he did." He repeats wistfully as the disk practically crumbles in his hand.

"What just happened?" Joe asks "You can get that back can't you?"

"Um, well, no. I can't get the DVD back." Cisco starts and Wells appears to be about to interrupt him. Cisco holds up a hand to stop him. "Don't worry. I got this. We can still see the video, though," Cisco drags his hand across the screen. "Through the security videos. See."

The security video comes up and quickly zooms in to show the video playing a couple of minutes from the past.

"There." Cisco tells them. "Almost as good as before. Almost. It's pretty good if I do say so myself. I updated the security feed last month and it turned out pretty-"

"Cisco." Wells stops him.

"Yeah, shut up. Got it."

Wells leans forward to study the security feed.

"Zoom tried very hard to make sure we couldn't get too good of a look at this video." The Earth-2 man murmurs, bringing his hand up to his chin. "There was no real reason to have the disk destroy itself after its first viewing. He must have known we could easily get back some version of it."

"Maybe, he was just trying to push our buttons." Joe says not taking too many glances away from the video that was now playing on repeat silently in the background. "That seems to be a common theme with him."

Cisco drums his fingers across the counter. His fingers pause as the slightly clearer part of the video repeats. The engineer finds something clicking in his brain as he looks more toward the edges around Barry.

"Where is he?" He says slowly, eyebrows now drawn.

"Barry?" Caitlin asks.

"I would think we're all rather clear on his location, Cisco." Wells broods. "That does seem to be the root of our problem."

Cisco gives the other three his best I'm-Not-An-Idiot look and sighs.

"Yeah, obviously. I just mean that that's not the cave. Just look at the walls behind him. Those are not the cave walls."

Wells drops his sneering stance immediately and considers Cisco's newest observation.

"You're right. None of the rooms of Zoom's...lair had cement walls like that. Zoom moved him to a different location." Wells begins and takes his glasses off of his nose, his eyes closing tightly as it slips off, but has them open a second later. "We should have at least seen this coming. Zoom isn't just going to let us walk in and take Barry back that easily."

"Maybe Caitlin-2 might know where that is. Zoom might have taken her there too if she really was in the same cage as Barry." Caitlin adds "I should probably go check on her now."

"Yeah, we shouldn't leave her alone too long with Jay." Cisco mutters, earning a sharp glare from Caitlin. "What? Not now, at least. Some weird things are going on around here and Jay could be a part of it. Jesse warns us about him and then the breach mysteriously overloads. He didn't seem to happy about us putting it together in the first place. We need to watch that guy."

Caitlin purses her lips.

"Fine, but only to prove that he's on our side." She finally gives, passing by a very zoned out Joe on her way out.

"Action figures?" Joe says to himself. "Action figures."

"Do you have an idea of what he was talking about?" Cisco asks the detective. He tries to shake off the sticky feeling that seemed to cover him from voicing his doubts of Joe out loud.

"Maybe." He starts, gaining the attention of Dr. Wells also.

"Well…" Wells prods.

"When Barry first had to move over to my house during the fostering process, I remember this box of superhero toys he had."

"Does he still have them somewhere?"

Joe shakes his head.

"No, he refused to even take them from his parent's house." Joe starts, thinking back through the years. "He left them in the basement and insisted that I not move them anywhere. With all of the stories he was telling the police about a superhuman man murdering his mother, I figured it might be best to go along with that at least. I have no idea what happened to them. I doubt Barry does either."

The room takes a moment to let the story sink in.

"So, is he trying to point us to a basement somewhere?" Cisco tries.

"An underground location would match with the bases Zoom has chosen in the past." Wells says. "And it does seem like Barry to leave a hint such as that. He was just lucky to have it slip past Zoom's watch. Very lucky."

"Why wouldn't he just point us underground using something simpler, though?" Joe points out. "I've almost forgotten those things. Why would he chose them as the way to get something across to us?"

"Maybe that was the only way he could think of without making Zoom suspicious."

"I don't think so. He chose those action figures for a reason." Joe motions over to the screen. "Play through to the end again, okay?"

"Sure." Cisco shrugs and does just so.

"Hey, guys," The video picks up. "If I don't make it back-"

"This is too far back." Wells says, but no one bothers to skip forward. There was something very reassuring to hear this part again also.

"-It wouldn't be your faults. I've made my decisions to get to this point and Zoom is, well, you know. Man, this video is really, really depressing." Barry starts for the second time. "Make sure someone checks on my old action figures. They need to be kept in a really specific environment. You guys know what they mean to me."

The video pauses again as Cisco hits the button.

"Okay, he did say old action figures, so I think Joe's definitely right with the ones he was talking about." Cisco starts off. "Maybe-"

"Did you say that Barry made you keep them in the basement?" Wells interrupts Cisco to ask Joe.

"Yeah, he insisted."

"Well, then." Wells puts his glasses back on his face from where he had been holding then folded in his right hand. He crosses his arms. "Barry's word choice might be much more carefully chosen than I first thought. He's pointing us to the basement not the action figures. The entire point of his request is to have someone go somewhere to them and that the figures need to be kept somewhere _specific_ , such as the specific place where he felt the action figures needed to be kept in the past. Hence, him saying they need to be in a specific environment."

"Specific." Joe picks up after a moment of sorting through Well's logic. "Okay, then he's specifically referring to his old basement. Does he want us to go there?"

"The one located on Earth-2, of course, if we're correct" Harrison shrugs.

A new voice pierces the room.

"The dump he set us up in could have totally been a basement." Killer Frost smirks at the deer-in-headlights gazes of the unexpecting team members in the bullpen. She pushes away her fussing double and peels the last bit of surgical tape from from arm. "So, when are we going to go and beat Zoom around for a while. I'm not exactly patiently waiting to get back at him."

"Um…" Cisco spews.

"What? You got me over here for a reason, right? What are you waiting for now?"

"You just want to run over there?" The engineer doesn't seem to be truly hearing the Earth-2 meta.

"Yep."

"Huh," Wells almost smiles. Almost. "Maybe, we need to get follow her book on this rescue attempt.

"We're going over there now?" Joe doesn't seem to be put off from the idea as his hand moves suggestively toward his gun halter.

"I don't see how we could push it off much longer. Everything is in place. isn't it?" Wells looks over to Cisco.

Cisco coughs and pushes back his hair.

"I guess you could say that." He finally answers. "Pretty much."

Caitlin finally stops trying to doctor her Earth-2 counterpart.

"I'm going to need to make you guys a lot more tranq darts."

* * *

The Earth-2 basement is much silenter than it had ever been in the past.

"Oh my god." Barry breathes out with pure horror written all over his face. His expression didn't match at all the reflection through the glass that was smirking back to him.

The one that had finally decided to pull down his mask.

"You're me."

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, the team makes their way to Earth-2. There's no going back on the things they find there.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Gwenneth- Here you go! Enjoy!**

 **FastestManAlive- Was Barry the one to reveal his location to the team on Earth-1, though? Think about it.**

 **Legendoffun- Thanks! Hopefully there will be more that you didn't expect coming up soon in the story.**

 **Crimson Comet- Yeah, I'm making up my own identities for all of the unknown characters in the show. It's more fun that way. And toward the new location of Barry's cage, let's just say that Zoom is making things personal for both of them. You'll be getting Zoom's full backstory soon.**

* * *

The machine glows brightly in the dimly light room lighting a path to Caitlin, Cisco, Joe, Wells, and Jay who are standing right outside the doorway.

"Is it just me or is Frost really, really crazy? Like crazier than before." Cisco whispers over his shoulder, trying to catch a glance at the icy metahuman just staring at the breech portal opener.

"I wouldn't say she's acting crazy." Caitlin tries to keep the bit of amusement from her voice. "She's determined. She just wants to do this quickly."

"You're just saying that because she's you." Cisco points a finger to Caitlin and she shrugs her shoulders.

"I obviously don't compare myself to a criminal metahuman from another universe who just happens to look like me. Even if she does a very nice job of looking like me with those boots." Caitlin adds as an afterthought.

Cisco throws up his hands.

"While I doubt she is the most stable companion to bring along with us, she will surely be quite helpful with those freezing powers of her." Wells adds the conversation.

"Fine, whatever. I guess she was fine before. Kind of." Cisco decides to give. "I just wish she would actually talk to us instead of glaring at us or at some poor, innocent wall."

"Zoom did just killed her-" Wells is interrupted by Cisco.

"Yeah, I know." The engineer stops him, giving a pointed look toward Caitlin and a small shake of his head.

Caitlin narrows her eyes, but leaves the subject unattended to while she reaches over to the rolling table they had brought closer to the portal opener.

"Okay, this should be what you're going to need while you're over there." She rolls her hand over the multitude of technology. "The cold gun, tranq darts, some super special glass shatterers compliments of Cisco, and are you sure I shouldn't come with you guys?"

"Yes." Wells answers immediately and looks up as if realizing that he had answered much too quickly. "We can't take chances with the breach malfunctioning and having no one here to fix it. Besides," He glances around to sizeable amount of people who were already going. "I believe we should be good with the thousand of us who volunteered."

"Great." Caitlin gives him a dubious eye roll. "Anyway, I put medical supplies into Joe's bag for Barry if need be. I'm hoping that between the four of you, considering that two of you are geniuses, you could at least hold something together until you can get back here with him. Not that Barry's going to be hurt or anything anyway, but just so that if-"

"I get it, Caitlin. We got this. This time." Cisco tells her the promise she is fully prepared to complete this time.

"So," Joe speaks up. "What should I expect over there?"

Cisco could tell he was attempting to change the subject. He let him.

"Lions, tigers, bears, and a pretty much everything that's over here, but on a weird, sepia color scale. Except you're technically dead, so don't like go around waving a badge or something."

Joe blinks.

"Okay, I can work with that."

"This time you'll also have me too to help." Jay affirms, nodding his head. "I can handle any especially Earth-2 problems that may come up and with Velocity-9, I might be able to at least help with Zoom."

"Yep." Caitlin says in a high voice. Her hand fumbles on the plastic packaged syringe before she hands it over to the once speedster. The others seem to stare anywhere, but at Jay pocketing the Velocity-9 in one of his pockets.

Joe finally picks up the small cylindrical device from the table and peeks at the small legs attached around the end.

"Are you sure this will definitely open up the cage?"

"Oh, yeah." Cisco assures him. "That would shatter a rocket ship's front window from five feet away if you set it to it's highest setting. Trust me, that cage doesn't stand a chance anymore." He wasn't going to let some carbon glass make him useless again.

"Okay, now I'll just have to make sure nothing goes wrong on this end." Caitlin nods her head with a flutter of nervousness in her eyes. "Hopefully, there won't be anymore earthquake causing metahumans ravaging the town this time around."

"I actually acquired some help for you in case of an emergency." Wells says. He shifts from one leg to another leg. "She should be arriving soon, not too long after we leave."

"She?" Joe raises his eyebrows. "I suppose you're talking about your daughter considering you know no one else on this Earth."

"Yes, I've decided that keeping her away may not be the best option."

"Really? Trying to lock up your kid for their safety didn't work out for you." Joe raises his eyebrows, trying to keep a straight face.

"No," Harrison does not seem amused. "I'm half think the constant writing Jesse's doing in the house is a plan to runaway. I'm not sure what else to do at this point."

"Woah, Dr. Wells admitting to not knowing something. That's a first." Cisco snorts.

Frost looks over to them and snaps out of whatever had been circling around her mind before. Her shoes clack against the ground as she walks toward the group standing away from her. Her shoes were much louder than the conversation they were having without her.

"Problems?" She asks still five feet away, her hands landing on her hips.

"Nope, not at all." Cisco says a little too quickly and Frost raises her eyebrows. "Well, okay, besides the problems that already existed, there aren't any other problems."

"Good." The Earth-2 Meta takes the last few steps toward the swiveling table and rummages through the various devices. "You expect to win with these?" She sneers. "Did you raid some toy store across the street?"

Silence beats between the people.

"Thank you for your input Miss...Frost I suppose." Wells answers before Cisco can explode. "We're as prepared as we can be at this point."

"Despite how little time your insistence to leave left us." Cisco mutters to himself earning a cutting glare from Caitlin-2.

The room temperature seems to shift a few degrees lower in the hallway, but the most the meta does is roll her eyes at him. Caitlin-1's eyes widen as she realizes it was her double doing it.

"So, you're ready to go then? I'm not sticking around this dump of a world any longer."

"You haven't even left the building."

"I've seen everything I need to see." She glances over to her Earth-1 counterpart. "It's a little too cushy for me here. I'm not one to get comfortable anywhere."

Cisco sighs and shakes his head.

"Yep. We're all ready then."

They take it in for a moment, just a little unready to start this journey all over again. They know this will be nothing like their last rescue mission.

"Iris will be coming over soon too," Joe suddenly speaks up. "So you should have plenty of help here between all three of you if there are any problems. She wanted to be here now, but her new editor will probably fire her if she missed much more work. It took me quite a while to convince her that Barry wouldn't want her to get fired just to see us off."

Caitlin nods and bites her lip.

"Got it." She waves her hand up. "Don't worry about us at all. Just do whatever you need to do on your side."

It's everyone else's turn to nod.

"So…" Cisco starts, putting the last tweak to his backpack straps. "We go now?"

* * *

Minutes later, minutes that went far too quickly compared to the minutes of the last week, the group stood in front of the machine. It's glow not yet started up yet.

"There's a pretty good chance Zoom will be waiting on the other side for us as some as we step through." Wells is the one to say. "We're going to want to get out of STAR labs immediately."

"Got it." Joe takes note.

Cisco moves off to the side and flips switches to start up the process. He looks over to Jay and gestures for him to get ready also. Jay in turn glances to Caitlin who is looking away to the empty space above the machine.

Jay coughs.

"Oops." Caitlin breaks her concentration from whatever was floating in her mind. "Got it." She holds up the syringe in her right hand and brings it up to Jay's arm. "Here you go. Be careful with your other dose for the jump back. You only have one, so Zoom can't get his hands on too much if something happens."

The syringe empties into his arm and a faint red streak flashes across his eyes.

"Okay, let's do this." His voice has an edge of vibration to it and his gaze switches quickly from one person to another.

"Good luck." Caitlin says as the middle of the room suddenly lights up with a blue, white glow that feels like it could swallow the universe.

Jay flashes her one last smile and the occupants disappear and the last words of "See you soon" echo from Cisco who is the last to suddenly be whisked off by Jay to the other universe.

Caitlin-1 sighs.

* * *

Joe doesn't dare take a full breath until he is on the other side of the portal. Or at least until he believes he is on the other side of the breach.

The walls and floors all reflect the same bash colors as before and just the thrum of a building with real, current activity assures him that this is not the STAR labs he had left behind. This is the world his son is in.

A moment later and four others appeared behind him.

"Woah," Cisco pants. "That still stinks. A lot."

"Yeah, yeah." Wells grabs Cisco's hoodie sleeve and starts to drag him toward the nearest door. "We're getting out of here now. I don't want to put this building under attack again."

Joe wraps his hand around his holster and follows behind them closely, keeping an eye on Frost behind him and Jay to his side. Jay's eyes fidget back and forth from the somewhat familiar surroundings.

"So, we're not actually going to the basement first are we?" Caitlin shoots off.

"What do you mean?" Wells barely looks back to her, but she catches Joe's attention.

"He's gonna know we're here any minute now and where do you think he's going to head first? Exactly where he thinks we're going to go, the basement."

"He doesn't know we know about the basement." Cisco tells her, slightly out of breath. They turn around another corner where the hallway turns to windows on their left. The afternoon sun filters in, hurting the tense mood of the running group.

Caitlin-2 snorts.

"Zoom knows everything. Let's go get mask guy first. Zoom probably isn't going to expect us to go there first and it's not like your Flash will just let you leave someone a prisoner here. Besides himself." She adds.

Wells and Cisco share a glance that seems to communicate something between themselves. Joe doesn't like it.

"We need to get Barry first." Joe argues, trying to cut off the idea before it really begins to form.

"I agree." Jay says quickly. "Who says Zoom won't be waiting at the cave? He doesn't know that we know where he's keeping Barry. He can't. He would have never sent us that video if he knew about the message Barry was sending us."

The group finally reaches a back exit, but Harrison stops the group a foot from the door.

"I believe we should retrieve the masked man first." Wells tells the group after a beat of pause. "He's been a prisoner of Zoom for who knows how long and probably knows much more than we do. His information could come in handy."

"Zoom is going to be waiting there." Jay says, shaking his head strongly.

"No, something tells me Zoom already knows that we're going to make our way to Barry's childhood home sooner or later."

"What?" Jay insists on knowing and Wells rubs his forehead in frustration.

"A nice little video all packaged up with the exact information we need to know? Zoom probably let that location pass onto us just so he would know our first move. He's probably waiting in that basement for us now."

"Why didn't you bring this up before?" Cisco practically screams a the scientist, but knows better considering their situation.

"What difference would it have made?"

"Um, all." He squeaks. "All the difference, pretty much."

Wells rolls his eyes.

"The only thing it's changing is the order in which we go about saving whomever needs to be saved. Okay. Will everyone agree to go to the cave first?"

"You know I don't care." Frost outs her hands on her hips.

Jay realizes his defeat and nods to prevent the argument from continuing.

Cisco looks over to Joe. "I'm only agreeing if it's what Joe wants to do too."

Joe hesitates and Wells is almost sure he will disagree.

"Do you truly believe this is the right thing to do?"

Harrison nods.

"Fine. We go to the cave first. And very quickly."

They leave the building not a moment later. Jay exits last. A dark look adjourns his face while no one is looking.

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, the identity of the masked man is finally revealed while the motives of another come to light.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Crimson Comet- Yeah, I wasn't actually thinking about the significance of the color red when I was writing it, but it does pretty much work with everything that's happened. I just love identities which sounds strange. There just really cool to think about.**

 **Legendoffun- It's not Tess something, but you might want to read this chapter now. Hint. Hint.**

 **Ratchetlover- Here you go!**

* * *

"You got up there," Joe points and gapes up to the opening at the very top of the rocky cliff. "By climbing stairs made up ice."

"You mean 'we're going to get up there again' by climbing stairs made of ice." Cisco corrects him, glancing sadly at the empty licorice pocket he hadn't had the heart to fill up again before they had left.

"It's more of a slope." Frost says.

"A slope?"

"A slick slope."

Joe sighs.

"Great."

It took them almost an hour to get to where they were now in the forest outside the mountains. The air is even colder than it had been just the days before. Cisco feels like it suits the mood more. Cold means no nonsense. Just look at Killer Frost.

How much longer does it take them to actually get up to the cave?

Much too long considering going straight up got them no closer to Barry. At least, they all hoped that with pretty much everything they had left to hope with at this point it didn't.

"Which way is it when we finally get up there?" Joe motions toward the entrance.

"There's-" Jay starts, then suddenly stops both with his sentence and his feet, almost sending those before him back down the snow slide.

"Woah," Cisco shouts.

"Sorry, I just...I was going to say good question. Which way do we go?" He gets several strange looks. "Sorry."

"There's only one way. Straight." Wells tells them.

Joe nods and matches step with Jay, passing him in just a few moments.

"So, we are sure Barry's not in here. Right?" Joe hesitates before asking. He couldn't seem to decide whether or not that would be what he would want.

"Yes. Well, we're pretty sure. No, we're really sure, aren't we?" Cisco looks back to Caitlin-2."

"Last time I saw Barry, it sure wasn't here." She shrugs.

"Yeah, we're sure."

Joe nods again, seeming to not have much of an interest of truly responding today.

The group remains silent the remaining chunk of time it takes them to find their way, step by step, to the opening. It's a strange thing in your life to be so focused on time. Every hour. Every minute.

Every second.

Joe, Jay, Cisco, Wells. They all pause for one of those seconds as the ice turns to a concrete floor under their feet.

"I see what you mean."

Joe studies the looming hallway intently, sliding his gun out of its holster without making a sound. "Let's get this guy and get out."

He leads the way into the lair by habit, but Cisco stops him just before a corner.

"It's here." The younger man whispers and slowly peeks his head around the corner. Like lightning, he pulls his head back around and gasps.

"What?" Wells demands.

"It's all clear."

Cisco shakes out his shoulders and walks right down and around the corner.

"Why did you react like that?"

Cisco looks over to the doctor like it was obvious.

"I was being prepared. What if Zoom was over there?"

"Yes, because you using your great speed capabilities would surely escape Zoom." Wells mutters as he follows closely behind him.

The room gets darker as they edge around the bend.

It's a harsh memory for Cisco most of all. He had been the one to finally decide to leave and he knew it. Wells had his daughter to look after. He had a reason to get out of there as soon as possible. What about him, though, Cisco considers at the beginning of the series of cages. He could have stayed. An extra couple of seconds has helped them immensely in the past.

He pushes it back in his mind. Guilt can wait for when he's rectified what he has to feel guilty about.

"Barry's not here." Wells say, clarifying the obvious to his team. "The cage is gone that Barry was trapped in."

"So the message was real then." Joe murmurs.

Also real was the barred cage in the corner, carrying the barred face of its prisoner. The man looks over to them and looked as shocked as any masked man could look.

"Hey." Cisco almost waves before stopping himself. It didn't seen like the most appropriate thing to do.

Unsurprisingly, the man doesn't wave back, but stares back at him.

"Hand me your shatterer." Wells tells Cisco, holding out an open palm.

"You don't have yours?" He asks.

"I have mine."

Cisco stares at him with the device pulled from his jeans pocket.

"So, why do you need mine?"

"I have reasonable faith that your's will be the one that finally opens Barry's cage for us." The doctor answers and Cisco needs a moment just to appreciate that and let it set in. "My second bet is on Detective West, so if you want me to test his out-"

"No, it's all good." Cisco says quickly.

"You go ahead." Wells puts down his hand in the last second before being handed Cisco's device.

Cisco takes four steps closer to the cage and lifts up his shatterer.

It clinks against the glass and he presses the bottom right above the small nozzle that changed the pressure. The masked man stands up and steps back to allow the scientists room to do whatever he might.

"Here we go." He whispers and it whirls on.

The glass stays eerily still and crack free for a split second before it suddenly shatters without warning.

"That's one way to do that." Frost grunts.

The masked man looks at the corners of his cage where the leftover angles of glass were still sticking out. He moves the shattered pieces away from his path out of the cell he had been stuck in for who knows how long.

He gestures toward the mechanism locking the mask over his face and points to Killer Frost.

"What?" She looks blank.

He gestures to the back of his mask again and she sighs.

"Come on, Frost. We need to move." Wells motions to her to just do it.

She gives him a dirty look, but does it, trying not to freeze his entire face of with it. It cracks and crackles until finally giving way under the ice.

The masked man pulls off the now freezing cold metal as they try to usher him out of the cage room and toward the hall.

"Okay, dude. Now, we're going to go get the Flash and if you happen to…" Cisco trails off as he turns his head toward the man he is trying to pull in the direction of the already moving group. "Oh my God." He whispers.

The VERY familiar man gives him a slightly suspicious look and stretches his arms out as they pick up the pace.

"Hello," He starts. "Thanks for the rescue."

"What are you doing here?" Cisco's tone the attention of the others. Wells and Joe visible pause and the entire group is halted. "I mean, I know that you're probably not actually you."

"What?" Frost asks.

The man looks back and forth between them.

"I'm not sure who you think I am, but you can call me," He hesitates a moment. "The Arrow."

"What the heck happened, Oliver?"

"You know me?" Oliver furrows his eyebrows. "From a different earth?"

"Um, yeah." Cisco nodds. "We fight crime together sometimes and it's awesome. Did Zoom get you while you were trying to stop him here?"

"Not here." Oliver corrects him, but seems to accept his other-world counterpart's connections.

"In Central City?"

"I mean, not on this Earth. I fought Zoom on our own Earth."

Cisco's jaw drops.

"We're leaving." Wells breaks up the circle. "Tell us on the way."

Oliver nods sharply and takes the lead almost immediately while Cisco stills tries to wrap his head around exactly what he had just learned.

"Zoom isn't even from Earth-2." Cisco starts, but it seems to only be paid attention to by himself. "Zoom is from...Earth-3. This changes everything we had thought about who he might be. We have no idea-"

"Zoom's identity no longer matters." Oliver says through gritted teeth. They reach the exit in almost half the time it had taken them to find Oliver in the back because of Oliver's pace.

"Why? Do you not know who he is?"

"No, I know who he is. Or I did. Zoom is no longer who he was before when he still considered himself to be a man."

"I don't know what that means."

Oliver is about to put a foot onto the ice slope when he seems to notice something one else does.

"Frost, destroy some of the ice." Oliver barks to her and she does it without hesitation, lifting her hand and smashing it down like the new ice that suddenly crushes the old.

"What's going on?"

Oliver doesn't say anything, but waves them down the hallway a dozen feet away that can barely be seen by the naked eye.

"Zoom's coming."

Each of them promptly flung themselves into the small closet area. The walls are darker and move in closer and closer as each person shuffles in with the last, Joe, closing the door as quickly and silently as he possible could.

"How did you see him coming?" Cisco dares to whisper.

"I've had practice." The Arrow answers back in the silence.

Cisco looks like he has a thousand different questions to ask before shifting his gaze back to the closed door.

Blue light zooms across the bottom slot of the door. Once. Twice. Three times in barely ten seconds.

They entire room is holding their breath and lets it out as another ten seconds pass with none of the trademark dark light showing its glow from the other side of the gap.

"Is he gone?" Cisco asks around. He knows that they could see just as badly as him, but a few of them happened to be detectives and superheroes so what the heck.

A moment passes.

"I think so. Frost destroying some of the ice made it seem like we came here earlier and the ice melted some." Joe says still quietly, but with a little more force than before. He seems to be shaking off the sudden paleness from the speedster being just outside the door.

"He's gone." Oliver agrees. "We need to wait here at least two more minutes before leaving, though. Zoom should be heading to wherever he's keeping Barry, but he may come back here and if he does, I imagine it will be very quickly."

"Okay." Cisco twitches his fingers from being kept in the room longer.

Wells looks around at the empty shelves of the closet.

"I suppose this would be a good time for an explanation." Wells says and Oliver purses his lips with a blank expression on his face.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything you know about Zoom. We need to know. Start from the beginning."

Oliver looks down and his hand moves back slightly like an unforgotten urge to check to make sure his bow is secured. Not that he has a bow now.

"You have to know that I don't think...Zoom was always like what he is know. Anyway, I met Zoom when he first got his powers. I don't know much about his past. There was an incident when he was a kid with what sounded like a metahuman. It was one the only things he told me about his past and apparently the whole thing was bad."

Cisco gulps. "How so?"

"A lot of people died. Civilians. Police officers. A detective or two. I imagine his parents must have been killed or somehow put out of the picture because after that he was put in the system. Who knows what happened when he was in there. I doubt it was good."

"How did you meet him?"

"He came to me after first getting his powers from a particle accelerator explosion created by," He points over to Wells. "You actually."

Wells winces.

"I'm aware. A similar event occurred in this world."

"Exact." Cisco coughs.

Wells shoots him a dirty glance that shuts him up quickly and Oliver continues.

"He was confused, didn't seem to have had any sort of power in his entire life, and I think scared. Really scared." Oliver looks down. "That made me careless. I didn't pick up on the things that were very wrong in him and I didn't help him in things I really should have helped him in. He wanted to be by himself in his city and even if he had actually started with intentions of some twisted good, it didn't take long for him to go dark. "

"Dark is an understatement." Cisco says and Oliver looks away to the door with some darkness in his own eyes.

"I tried to stop him. My entire team did. You can probably tell that it didn't end well and somehow I found myself here in this world with no idea of what happened. Zoom had contacts with a lot of scientists through his civilian job and I imagine one of them must have opened a portal here. I don't remember being brought here. I just woke up in that cage and then at some point you all showed up."

"I'm sorry." Joe says.

Oliver nods.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters now is that I stop Zoom."

"Good," Joe tells him. "We can do this together. We want to save our Barry and-"

"And I want to kill my Barry." Oliver finishes the sentence.

At that moment, the slightly warped story of a past very similar to Barry's clicked into place in all of their minds. The breath seemed to be suked out of the room.

"Where's Jay?" Wells suddenly asks as if the world hadn't suddenly crashed down around all of them. As if he hadn't even heard what Oliver had just said. Maybe, it was just the scientist in him. Maybe, it was because how much Barry had grown on him.

"What?" Joe doesn't seem to have heard Wells over his own thoughts. "Zoom is Barry."

"No, he's my Barry. Trust me, I only saw your's for a moment, but he's...everything Zoom isn't."

"You do realize that Jay is not here anymore." Wells tries again.

"Jay?" Oliver whips his head over to the doctor. "Jay Garrick? He was here too?"

"Yeah," Cisco looks blankly at him. "Have you seen him around here before. He was this world's Flash."

"He may have been this world's Flash, but he's bowed to Zoom since the second Zoom got here."

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, the team finally finds barry again, but will they be able to rescue him?**

 **Author's note**

 **Yes, I know Oliver refers to himself as GREEN Arrow, but G.A. would have been super obvious and the show is called The Arrow. He just decided to call himself The Arrow on Earth-3, so there.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Jayley- That's the thing. They really don't know and it's not like they have much time to stop and think about it. Even if they did, Barry is still Barry to them and Zoom is still Zoom. It's hard for any of the group to really see the two crossing in any way with Zoom being able to pull off a good impression of the person they know.**

 **Crimsome Comet- You will be getting some more about Jay's past. He had to slink away for now because he knew they were about to figure out about him through Oliver, but he won't stay away long. Zoom still needs him for something.**

 **Legendoffun- I knew I was cheating a little bit with T.A.. I'll admit to that at least.**

* * *

Cisco is the first one to sit himself down on the floor of the van as they park themselves at the very end of the street. The rest of the occupants take similar positions as they prepare to finally go in. Frost, of course, stays as far away from everyone else as she possible can in the van, looking especially without trust toward the new person, Oliver.

The stars are shining out brightly even with the few clouds littering the sky and crossing the moon every few minutes.

The van was an old-looking, rusted cable van that they had...borrowed on the way here. It took Oliver maybe two minutes to skip away from the group a soon as they got away from the caves and hot wire the thing.

Cisco still has no idea how he found a van like it so quickly and the forest road.

Okay, he probably knows, but he'd rather not consider the unfortunate guys who are going to wake up on the side of the street wondering where their van went. Or how they ended up outside their van in the first place.

...Anyway, they all had to stop looking that gift horse in the mouth pretty quickly as they found themselves in a stolen van going toward the goal they had been focused on none stop since five days ago.

Five days.

That's a lot of time to be kept in a glass box by a monster. Cisco has to take a deep breath and calm himself down.

"So, what's your plan?" Oliver whispers over to them from where he's peeking through a side window in a mirror.

The Earth-1 natives plus Dr. Wells glance at each other.

"Well, we were kind of going to go with sneak in guns flying."

Oliver blinks.

"That's your plan."

"Yeah, Jay was in charge of a lot of the strategy, but we can't really go with much of what he had told us considering-"

"He's in league with Zoom."

Cisco winces and Joe sucks in a breath, blaming himself all over again for this entire situation.

"Exactly." Cisco finally nodds. "Why? Do you have a plan?"

"I've been locked up in a cage for months with only the thoughts of how I would finally wrap my hands around the throat of that monster to keep me company."

"So, that's a yes?"

"Let's slow down here." Wells stops Oliver from continuing. "We don't have time to sit in here and have a tea party over our slumber party details."

"We can't just-" Joe is interrupted.

"No, here's the thing, Detective. I've been working against Zoom for a long, long time. Any plan we make against Zoom won't work."

"You're suggesting that we just run in."

"Maybe."

"Really?" Joe asks him.

"I'm saying you want a plan, fine. Plan A: We go in get Barry and run out of there as fast as possible. Zoom doesn't catch us and Barry takes us back to Earth-1. We don't even see Jay again." Wells pauses. "Plan B: We go in and Zoom is there. We fight like hell and keep fighting until we fail or we win. Those are my two plans."

The car goes silent.

"I guess that's compelling at least." Cisco murmurs and looks over to Joe who just shakes his head and stays silent.

Oliver-2's face is unreadable.

"Arrow?" Wells encourages him.

"You do what you believe you need to do and I'll do what I have to do."

"Well, that's ambiguous."

"Do you want my help or not." Oliver holds up his hand. "Actually, I don't care." He stands up as straight a he can in the car and gets out through the door that wasn't facing their target house. Oliver pulls off the gray sheet Zoom has provided him during his captivity to just be wearing a white undershirt.

"Maybe, I like him more than I thought I did." Frost murmurs, hopping out and slinking behind him.

Cisco's eyes are drawn down to his boots as the door stays open, allowing the two groups to stay talking.

"Is that a knife in your boot?" He points out the very, very large blade sticking slightly out of Oliver's shoe.

Oliver barely glances down at it.

"Yes."

"Where did you find that?" The van suddenly seems a lot creepier and Oliver's slight shrug as an answer doesn't help.

Oliver shuts the door shut in a way that's quiet, but still loud enough that the occupant can tell they're just holding back some kind of rage.

"I'm guessing we're going to follow him right now, right?" Cisco asks those who are left in the van.

"He's not exactly leaving us much of a choice." Joe winces and picks himself up.

Cracking open the door, the detective peeks out and frowns. He gestures toward the other two to follow his lead as he slides out of the van.

Cisco and Wells take his lead and both step out afterwards, holding their respective tranq and cold gun in their open hands. Cisco had wanted to to bring himself both, one for each hand, but Caitlin had ruled it out pretty quickly. Cisco still can't imagine why not.

"Have you guys noticed anything strange about this neighborhood?" Joe says back to them, trying to stay near the treeline.

"What do you mean?" Cisco asks back. The three finally reach where Oliver has stopped himself behind a grouping of flowering bushes. "I mean, it is just a really weird place to be doing a full on black ops mission. I feel like some kids are going to step out of their house any second and be scarred for life at the strangers stalking through their sidewalk with weapons. Really awesome weapons."

He scans the houses and does finally notice a least one thing that was strange.

Every single light was off in the neighborhood. All of them.

Cars are in the driveway and trashcans are pulled out to the curb, but there's not any other sign of human life.

"Where are all the people?" Cisco says.

"Good question." Oliver tells him. "It seems like the entire neighborhood has been moved out for this."

"Why would Zoom even bother?" Joe scopes out the empty houses, feeling the effects of his training nagging him in the back of his mind. "He hasn't hesitated to take hostages in the past."

"He seems pretty intent on this just being between us at this point." Cisco starts and Wells nodds.

"It's the last moves of the game." Wells agrees. "He doesn't want to deal with pawns anymore."

"I think that's clear." Oliver stops them from keeping up their running conversation. "Let's move in now through the back door and-"

"There's no back door, just a side one." Joe interrupts him.

"You know this house?"

Joe pauses before answering.

"I've been here a couple times. It's where...Barry's mother was murdered."

Oliver's head whips back to him.

"Here?"

"Yes. There's no back door, but there's a door on the side that you can get to from behind those bushes back there." Joe points to a group of plants on the side. "It leads into a small mudroom. You have to cross through an open foyer to get to the basement, but it's closer than the front door."

"Okay, let's go through the side door."

Wells laughs harshly.

"It doesn't matter which door we go in or how we do it."

No one bothers to try to disagree with him as Oliver holds up his hand again as a signal for them to stop talking.

"Hey." Joe lightly grabs Oliver's arm and pulls him back. "You aren't in charge here. This is a team and just because we've let you join us, doesn't mean you're suddenly calling shots."

Oliver looks like he is going to argue, but backs down. He lets Joe go first to the door and even allows Wells to slink in behind the detective.

Cisco raises his eyebrows at Oliver and the man just rolls his eyes and goes before him.

The door is locked when they finally reach the door behind the plants.

At the door, Joe unholsters his gun and brings up the hilt like he is going to break the glass, but stops. Frost steps forward, her hand already gathering cold around it, but Joe shakes his head and looks back to Oliver who silently nods his head and steps forward to tinker with the lock.

Caitlin-2 curls her lips at being brushed aside.

It opens a couple seconds later and Oliver steps back, letting Jay take the lead.

Joe points to each of the people around him and them to his eyes. He makes one last gesture into the now open doorway and walks in slowly.

His gun flickers from side to side as he scopes out the back hallway.

Cisco follows behind last in the group with his tranq gun raised up in front of him. He can't seem to decide whether to look in front of him or behind him. On one hand, he has seen a lot of movies, so of course it is tempting to be constantly turning his head.

On the other hand, Zoom isn't exactly a sneaky guy and the time it takes to whip his head around could be the difference between life and a very bad other option.

He should have slept more over the last few days because the adrenaline in his system is making his hands just a bit too shaky for comfort.

His brows draw together as he considers somehow inventing a teleporter just so he could stick it on Barry and both him back to them whenever something like this happens. How is he ever supposed to sleep, knowing things like this happen so much?

He can barely ever help against it. All he can do is help stop it once it happens and, boy, is going to stop this. He's going to find a perfectly safe Barry and get him back.

CIsco stops as he spies the door that he knows leads down to the basement.

He remembers it for when Joe had him come to the Earth-2 version of the house to track down Barry's mother's murderer.

He waits as Joe still goes forward through the rest of the downstairs rooms to make sure that they are empty.

Cisco gathers that the house must be empty as Joe circles around and Oliver comes back from his own side of the house.

Wells jerks his head toward the door Cisco is obviously staring at and Joe nods to him, shifting from foot to foot before he walks as quietly as he can toward the door.

The only thing any of them can hear is each other's breaths coming out sharply and yet restrained at the same time.

The door creaks like a rumble of thunder when Joe pushes it open and the older man curses, realizing that it wouldn't hurt the chances they had already lost of sneaking down undetected if Zoom is here.

They wait in place a moment, the door half open. No flash of lighting comes to get them from below and each lets out a sigh of relief.

Joe looks to each of the people around him before he takes the first step down the stairs. The next few go by quickly and he picks up speed with each following.

The detective freezes as he rounds the corner to the last set of stairs.

Frost visible has to clench her fists as everyone bumbles into each other except Oliver who slides over smoothly to the side with no problem.

Wells pushes past The Arrow to see what stopped Joe and faces the same shock.

"Barry?" Joe whispers and throws himself to lean down next to his son.

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, a battle commences. Who will come out as the victor?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

 **Review Responses:**

 **LowTide1322- I don't mind it too much. It's a good reminder to keep me writing when I can during the week. Enjoy the update!**

 **KDesai- Oh, I've got a big battle in this one. Now, the ending of this battle being a happy ending?...Well?...Maybe? Things definitely aren't over yet that's for sure.**

 **Crimson Comet- Don't think I'll ever forget about dear Jay. He's just too awesomely complicated for that. I might not even know where Jay's loyalties are going to end up. By the way, who says this final battle has to be between Zoom and Barry? And who says that even if Zoom thinks he's gotten his final battle, it'll be the final battle in everyone else's minds? Okay, I'm done too. Enjoy.**

 **Legendoffun- Who knows who is who at this point? Too many people look like each other. I should give them name tags...**

* * *

"Barry, Barry." Joe faces a flicker of hesitation from setting his hand on Barry's shoulder. He didn't want to, but he can't help but think that placing even a finger on his son who's been through who knows what could break him.

The temptation is quickly too great for his flickering doubt and he shakes Barry with a feather's touch against his red suit.

The fleeting stop of his heart from Barry's lack of response is shot away as Barry groans and scrunches his eyes. Like a bolt, he shoots up, but stumbles down two steps, coughing. His eyes seem to freeze on them with an indistinguishable look before they morph into shock.

"Joe…" He breathes and suddenly slumps into the man's arms.

"Woah, woah." Joe catches him and Cisco rushes forward to take his other side. They both help Barry pull himself up. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You, you know. Just taking a break from my escape."

Joe barks a sigh of relief. He found his son.

"It's really good to see you, man." Cisco can barely manage that as Barry smiles over to him and Cisco realizes for the first time that Barry is here. He. Is. Here.

"Me too." Barry says and grins the best he can over to Cisco. "You're not Cisco's evil double are you?"

"No, although I wouldn't mind those hand blasters."

Barry laughs tightly and Oliver's eyebrows furrow as he frowns a few steps above him.

"Let's get out of here." Frost's voice echoes down the staircase. "I'm not sure this warm family reunion can wait until we're not about to be hunted by the fastest and most evil man on this planet and who knows else since you apparently have shown to be pretty terrible judges of character. According to metal face."

"What?" Barry mutters.

"We'll explain everything on your Earth." Wells nods to him and Barry doesn't seem to notice that it was the scientist's way of saying he's relieved to see him.

"Wait," Barry shakes his head, determination suddenly etched on his face. "Wait, you guy need to see something. It's in the basement."

"What?" Cisco looks over to his friend.

"You need to see it." His words shaking slightly. "Now." With that, he pushes his way out of his friends grip and clutches the the rails against the wall as he takes much sturdier steps toward his goal.

"Barry." Wells calls after him. Barry forces the rest of them to follow after him as he almost blurs around the corner.

Oliver is the only one to hesitate as Frost curses and shoves her way past him, mumbling about these crazies.

"Wait." He starts out quietly. "Wait!"

They barely glance back at him.

"I saw blue. That's not Barry."

It's too late for them, though. They hear him a moment too late as they reach the last step to only see a Barry that was definitely not their own standing there perfectly straight. He shows none of the weakness that had just been painted all over him.

Oliver doesn't attempt to run anyway. This was what he wanted wasn't it?

Cisco realizes their mistake first after Oliver. He forces his feet to finish the last few stairs just so he could look around the corner and confirm his fears.

A cage stands over in the corner with a figure in sweats lying on its floor. Their Barry.

"I really hate this suit." Zoom grins, warping Barry's face to something into something it hadn't been since Barry had been whammied. Being whammied hadn't even done this to Barry at its worst. This gave Cisco like shivers he had never felt before.

"Zoom." Wells says dryly.

"What? I thought you've been looking for me. Hasn't this all been to find me? To find Barry Allen."

"You are not Barry." Joe practically hisses.

Zoom brings his palm up to his chest and puts on a wounded look.

"That hurts...Dad."

"Shut up."

"Why are you doing this, Zoom?" Wells asks him, slowly drawing his cold gun. "Why the theatrics? You wanted to pick a fight with us. Pick a fight with us."

"This is just his game." Oliver warns them, earning a swift glare from Zoom. "He starts off like he's some tough maniac then he can't help but show the broken little child who's only interested with games."

A dangerous look crosses Zoom's face.

"You did always know me best, Oliver." The dark speedster returns the tight upward curve of his mouth. "That's why I'm so happy that you're here with my favorite group of people right now. It's one thing to beat my other self's. It's another to beat the people who made them what they are. The only things that separate them from me."

"Barry would never had been you." Cisco tells him, despite the urge to let the man continue to stall this himself was strong. The engineer waits for Zoom to strike out. "Not ever."

"I thought you were a man of science, Cisco? Will you not recognize the evidence right in front of you?" Zoom barely has time to finish before Joe raises his gun and shoots off two rounds at the man's head, barely able to look at the speedster as he does it.

Zoom catches them at the last possible second with motions the eye couldn't even follow they were so fast.

"Spread out!" Oliver yells, pushing himself against the far wall and skidding to the opposite end of the room from where the cage is. The others follow suit in different directions and raise their weapons while Zoom just grins.

They fire at once.

Bullets fly. Darts are shot. Two ice blue blasts stream with different, but both deadly power.

It causes a fog of icy condensation in the center of the room that pauses time for three blinks of an eye before blue lightning strikes out first toward Oliver.

He does his best to duck out of the way, but ends up being twisted out into the wall anyway. The Arrow seems to take over as he adjusts his strategy to what he has learned in the past with fighting this Barry.

Joe and Cisco both migrate to the right toward Barry's cage, hoping to take as much of the time that Oliver and Frost are buying them.

Wells watches their backs somewhere between the groups with his cold gun drawn.

"Barry. Barry." Joe hisses, trying not to get Zoom's attention from his heated, cold considering Frost's point of view, competition between him, The Arrow, and Killer Frost.

Even the two powerful fighters were quickly lagging behind, Oliver fighting only with his hands and the knife in his left hand. Zoom catches his hand in the middle of a lung toward his heart and the knife clatters against the hard, cement floor.

Zoom's momentary victory is cut short as he finds a tranq dart on his right side of his shoulder blade from Oliver's once empty hand.

"You never watch your back, do you Barry."

"My teacher was a big disappointment." Barry breathes out harshly, sinking slightly and joining back into the fight, coming under a sudden assault from Killer Frost. She blasts him with a stream of ice. "But it's going to take a little more tranquilizer than that."

Zoom throws himself back at them as Cisco starts his work on the cage.

"Barry." Cisco dares to raise his voice up again, knocking his hand against the glass to no avail as one of the closet persons to him in his life laid unconscious on the floor. Barry looks like he is simply asleep. His cracked lips and bruised skin and bagged eyes could almost be overlooked if someone tried.

All Joe knew is that he would never have enough strength, or maybe enough weakness, to ever look over that.

"Barry." Cisco tries one time, giving Joe a helpless look and digging into his pocket. 'I was really hoping he would be awake for this because of the whole glass shards and, and..."

"I know, Cisco." Joe puts a hand up against the glass and pushes on it as if he thought that maybe he could break it with just the pressure of that and his will.

Cisco clutches the small device in his hand and sticks it to the glass. He nods to Joe to get him to step back.

He's finger is on the button when Zoom catches the glint of the metal in the corner of his eye. Zoom shakes off the coldness that seems to be following him all over the left side of the room and races to the other side in a streak.

The device is torn from Cisco's grasp before he even realizes it is gone.

"Nah, uh, uh." Zoom's voice teases them as blue streaks in circles around the room before stopping in front of the staircase, throwing Wells onto the ground by Joe and Cisco.

"Everyone on Zoom." Oliver orders them. He waves his hand for the group to give up on the cage for at least the moment. "Don't give him an inch. You can get your Flash later."

"No, you won't." Zoom tells them quickly. He runs toward the right to the Earth-1ers who hadn't bothered to be a part of the fight against him yet.

He makes a mistake heading toward Cisco first. Wells predicted he would do that first.

A ray from the cold gun is waiting for him just an inch from reaching Cisco and he gets the full blunt right on his chest. He sucks in a breath just as Wells breathes out one in relief still leaning on one arm on the floor.

The Barry look-a-like smashes against the outside of the cage. He is gone in a moment and reappears next to Wells.

Wells feels a kick to his ribs long before he can process the movement with his eyes and his gun slides away from him across the cement.

"Hey," Oliver tries to take him down by jumping at Zoom, but the speedster is long gone and Oliver rolls as he hits the ground and is on his feet a moment later. Just in time for Zoom to punch him in the face.

Oliver is sent flying back to the ground.

Caitlin-2 and Joe launch their next attacks simultaneously. She pushes her arms forward and lets out a below freezing mist that hardens as it gets closer to Zoom. Joe gets five more shots out.

None of them reach their target.

"Now, we're getting somewhere." Zoom spews. "This fight is good. A closed space. Things getting...chilly. People getting angry."

"Shut up." Cisco growls. Zoom didn't appear to notice or care that the gun had slide right to Cisco's feet. Cisco aims for the floor all around Zoom, trying to push him back into the corner where Oliver and Frost had gotten a slight advantage over him before.

Joe realizes what he is doing and rushes forward to take the moment to pick up Wells who is holding his side, but pushes away Joe's hands once he is finally up.

Oliver rushes over to the corner without hesitation.

He steps over the icy patches on the ground to meet Zoom with his own blows, though not a single one lands. Zoom grabs his shoulders and smashes him against one of the metal panels on the wall with his hands around the man's throat.

Zoom tightens his grip and relishes the slight flicker of what must have been panic deep inside of the Arrow's eyes.

The tranq darts hit him squarely on Zoom's back, puncturing small holes in the suit Cisco loves so much. Man, does Cisco love those holes anyway, though.

Zoom staggers back as the tranquilizer starts into his system. It's much improved since when he broke Barry's back and three of them together gives him pause for once.

It's such a shock to his system that he forgets about the ice on the floor directly behind him. Zoom slips backwards and lands with a thud on the ground.

He blinks woozily up the the ceiling.

Killer Frost proves her name as she smiles at the turn of events and steps forward with an impressive speed on her own. Her hands are practically glowing blue with anticipation. Frost is about to spear ice through the dark speedster's heart, when a yellow streak runs down the staircase.

The world slows down only for her.

Caitlin Snow-2 can only look down to see the arm through her chest before it is roughly pulled out and she drops to the floor.

"I'm sorry." Jay almost does appear sorry, though not exactly for this Caitlin.

Zoom chuckles at the horrified faces around the room as he pulls himself up.

"Look at you, Jay. You're actually useful for something with speed." The blue speedster tells him. "I do hope you know anything they give you won't last."

"I know." Jay responds too quickly with too much fear at even the prospect of Zoom thinking he might be unloyal. "Velocity-9 isn't permanent and I only have two doses here. Had. Now, there's just one."

"Jay…" Cisco murmurs. The man's betrayal had just become real to him.

Barry-3 hardly glances over to Cisco.

"Interesting." He says back to Jay. "That will work out well. I have one more task for you then your real speed will be yours again. I only have interest for the my own speed in my alternates."

"This isn't over." Wells raises the cold gun he had retrieved from Cisco.

"Yes, it is." Zoom jerks his head and Jay takes the hint with them both disappearing from view then appearing again in the center of the room.

The weapons had been torn out of each of the group member's hands.

"Here's how this is going to go." Zoom starts. "You," He points to Wells. "Are going to be escorted by Jay back to Earth-1 where you will be closely monitored as you tell Caitlin and Iris and Jesse and whomever, I don't care, the frantic tail about how you need the same thing you stole Barry's speed with to take my own speed."

Wells visible grinds his teeth as Cisco's eyes widen to an impossible width and he tears back his hair from his face. No one around the room dares to actually move from where they are standing with Frost lying dead on the ground. Zoom just continues as if this were common business.

"You will return with that here." He says. "You will take Barry's speed. You will give it to me and everyone here will live. Probably."

Wells doesn't know what else to do, but nod.

* * *

 ** **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, Wells is put to the ultimate test as he has to tread carefully or risk getting everyone killed.****


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Crimson Comet- Jay is being very pressured into working with Zoom. You'll get a little bit of a glimpse into what's going on there.**

 **Legendoffun- You'll just have to read the chapter to find out. Enjoy.**

 **Starfire25- Zoom is the Earth-3 Barry and what happened with him was that his mother died, father went to jail, but Joe was never there to adopt him. It's all in one of the past chapters.**

* * *

The breech flares up, breaking Iris from her stupor. She had been sitting on the ground against the wall for an hour now. The waiting was driving her crazy, but they hadn't put a time limit on closing the breech this time. It would have been no use if Zoom had Wells and Barry. He could just force one open himself.

Joe, Wells, Cisco, Jay, and that Frost women had left at six that evening. They wanted to be able to work in the darkness.

It was almost eleven now. Her father had said they could be back in as little as five, four hours if everything went well. It was just a matter of finding Barry and hoping to avoid Zoom.

Hoping to avoid Zoom…

The breech grows and she sees something coming closer from the far distance of the center of the light. Iris scrambles to get up and pulls her phone out of her pocket.

She sends out the message she had already typed up, warning Jesse and Caitlin about the breech activity.

A flash of light sweeps past her and for just a second she thought it was Barry.

It wasn't.

Jay comes to a halt with Wells in tow and Wells steps away from the temporary speedster like he was burning hot.

Iris waits for more people to come through the breech.

"Where's everyone else?" She asks the two and Wells looks down. Iris can't breath as she tries to get past the familiarity of the scene before her to ask again. "Where is everyone-"

"It's not like that." Jay stops her, holding up a hand. "They're safe, I promise. We just need something here to take down Zoom."

Jay sends Wells an uninterpretable look.

"Yeah," Wells starts after a moment. "Zoom is watching Barry too much. We tried once to surprise him, but it didn't go anywhere even with all of us together."

"Why are you back here then?"

"I...I realized something during the fight." Wells tells her and is about to continue when two more women come running into the room.

"Dad!" Jesse runs to her father's arms. He hugs her for a few seconds longer than what would be considered usual in this situation. Not that anything in this situation could be considered usual. Jesse finally pulls away from her father. "What happened?"

Caitlin is right behind her, looking to the breech.

"They're okay." Jay repeats himself from before. "We're just here to-"

"We need the speed siphon from before." Wells interrupts him.

"What?" Caitlin looks over to him. "Did something go wrong?"

"No."

"Yes."

Wells and Jay answer at the same time, but Wells continues first.

"We can't get Barry out without it. We've tried everything we had, but we just couldn't top Zoom. He beat us."

Caitlin blinks and Jesse crosses her arms.

"How are you planning to use it, though?" His daughter starts.

"Can it even work on Zoom?" Caitlin finishes.

"I thought it wouldn't before because it had been used to take Barry's speed, but now that Barry's speed has been completely drained from it, well, I should be able to use it on Zoom if we can just get close enough to get it on him."

Jesse narrows her eyes.

"Really? Are you sure about that?" Jesse asks him.

"Yes."

"But you must have built it specifically to steal Barry's speed. Are you sure that it could even switch it over to Zoom?"

"Yes."

"But-"

"Jesse, I'm sure." Wells stops her a little too harshly. "Please, don't question me right now. I know exactly what I'm doing and I just need you to understand also."

"Fine." She lets the subject drop, giving him this for once.

"Have you, have you seen Barry?" Caitlin ask them. She walks closer to Jay as Wells seems to move himself farther apart.

Jay glances over at Wells before answering.

"Cisco got a glance." Jay nods. "He said that Barry looked okay overall. You know, as okay as he can be expected to look, but okay."

Iris and Caitlin both let out a breath at this.

"No big injuries for sure? I could come back with you if there were. There's no reason to hide anything from us."

Jay smiles at her.

"We wouldn't keep that from you." Jay answers for both of them.

"Okay, well, it should all be in the lab from when you were using it to open the breech." Caitlin tells them, changing the subject. "You guys should probably get back as soon as possible."

"Definitely." Jay agrees then Wells echoes him with a frown.

Jay holds out his hand, motioning Wells to go ahead of him into the hallway. The scientist follows his lead almost with a neutral expression on his face.

Caitlin steps out of the way with a raised eyebrow at the two.

* * *

Cisco twists his wrist around one more time as he he could out maneuver the handcuffs and escape from where he was handcuffed to an exposed pipeline on the wall.

"You aren't going to get out of those, Cisco." Joe tells him from his similar position on the other side of the wall. "There's a reason those are police regulation."

Cisco bangs his arm against the metal pipe then stops.

"Why did you have to have two sets of handcuffs, though." He sighs without expecting a response. Cisco looks over to Oliver, the newest occupant of the glass cage.

"Do you know how to get out of handcuffs?"

Oliver crosses his arms from where he was standing behind the glass.

"Do you have anything to use as a lockpick?"

"No."

"Are you willing to break multiple bones in your hand?"

"Um…"

"Cisco," Joe stops them. "Don't break anything in your hand. This isn't television. Even if you did do it, you probably still wouldn't be able to get out of the handcuffs. Neither of us would. We aren't exactly the Arrow."

"That's kind of a relief." Cisco says, flexing his fingers. "My hands happen to be very important to me."

"How's Barry doing?" Joe asks Oliver for the third time. It was the first thing he had demanded since Zoom had first left them to do heaven knows what in the Earth-2 city.

"Still unconcious."

"Have you tried-"

"Waking him up. For the third time, yes. And for the third time, no, it hasn't done anything. He'll wake up when he wakes up. I've had some of my own experience with this too if you can imagine."

The light bulb hanging in the center of the room swings back and forth. It moves the shadows in the room and stands out brightly in the otherwise dark room.

"Zoom could have at least left on some decent lighting." Cisco complains. "I mean, why's he got to try to make this even creepier."

"Wait a second, Cisco." Oliver says and crutches down.

"What?" Joe sits up straighter.

"Your Barry just moved."

Barry takes a deep, shuddered breath from the glass floor.

The speedster moves his head to the side and Oliver takes a step away from him as he figures standing over the kid while he's just waking up might not be the best idea.

"Barry." Cisco whisper-shouts as he is closer than Joe to the cage. He just wants Barry to know that they've finally found him. "Barry, wake up."

It takes Barry a moment to understand that his name is being called. And that he knows who is saying it.

"What?" He gargles out, pulling himself up. He looks around to the people around him and brings a hand up to his forehead.

"Barry?" Cisco has to ask and Barry looks away and seems to shudder.

"Which ones are you?" Barry asks them, weakly. "Where are you from?"

"We're here, Barry." Joe tells him. "It's us."

"Really?" Barry dares to look over to them. "Joe? Cisco?" He glances to his side and almost jumps out of his skin. "Oliver?"

"I'm not from your Earth." He winces. "It's just them."

Barry puts his hand up to the glass.

"How are you, why are you here?" He stalls and stares hard at their handcuffs. "You should have stayed away."

"No." Joe shakes his head.

"Zoom got you too, now."

"Don't do that, Barry." Cisco tells him. "We've got a plan."

"You do." Barry squints at them.

"Oh, we don't, yet. We're kind of definitely prisoners, but Wells has to have a plan. He always has a plan."

"What's his plan?" Barry shakes his head, still almost not believing what he was seeing.

"Um," Cisco rubs his head. "It's more of a if-all-goes-wrong contingency than a plan, per say. It goes to Caitlin and Iris and Jesse, I guess."

Barry closes his eyes and leans against the glass.

"Where is he, now?"

A beat of silence fills the room.

"Probably on Earth-1." Cisco finally answers.

"You're going to have to explain everything to me."

Joe and Cisco share a glance.

"We have some explaining to do, then." Joe tells his adopted son.

* * *

"Okay, Jesse hands her father the siphon, but then pulls back her hand with the siphon in it. "Are you sure there's nothing else you need? Nothing at all?"

Wells hesitates for just a moment.

"No, there's nothing I can think of. We have everything we need." He answers, looking at Jay from the side of his eyes.

"Nothing that might be good for us to know?" Caitlin tries herself from her position in the lab's center.

"Not that we can think of." Jay says and stands up from his rolling chair. It squeaks and rolls away from him.

"Really?" Iris repeats.

"I'm sorry, guys," Jay starts. "But we really need to get back. I know this is strange. We really need you to just go along with all of this."

"Okay," Jesse holds up her arms in surrender with the siphon. She walks past Caitlin, accidently bumping into her shoulder before continuing on to Jay. Jesse mutters a silent apology to the doctor that can't be made out by any of the other occupants.

She holds out the siphon to Jay and he reaches out to grab it.

Just as his fingers reach the siphon tip, Caitlin pulls out an object from her lab coat pocket. She lifts it up as a snap comes from the metal and Jay looks down to his arm from where a long dart tip was now extended.

The man drops to the ground.

"We are not idiots. Do you want to tell us what's really going on, dad?" Jesse looks over to her father.

Wells lets just the tiniest bit of relief show on his face and nods.

"We need to make some changes to our plan."

Jay wakes up slowly to find himself tied to a metal chair with long cords of nylon rope.

"What?" He mumbles, looking around to find himself just a few feet away from the breech to Earth-2. "What's happening?"

Jesse coughs to signal that there were people standing behind him. They all walk around to face him, Iris and Caitlin crossing their arms.

"That was a bad plan, Jay." Iris tells him.

"How did you know?" Jay seems to be looking only at Caitlin who looks away from him.

Jesse answers him.

"Did you really think there was any situation where any of us would agree to come back without everyone again?"

Jay laughs.

"It doesn't even matter anymore what I think. What I do. We're all dead."

"No we aren't" Caitlin finally speaks up. "You're going to help us."

"There's no helping you even if I wanted to."

"Well, you're going to try anyway." Wells tells him, leaning forward slightly. He is circling a needle full of Velocity-9 in his hand.

Jay shakes his head, smiling blankly.

"Fine, I don't even care anymore." He continues shaking his head. "Do you know how I ended up where I did? Wrong place, wrong time. You try being a speedster in a world with Zoom in it."

"So you just became a villain?" Caitlin looks disgusted.

"He took my speed. It was all I had. There was no family. No friends. I had nothing, but my speed and he won't give it back unless I get him your Barry's speed."

"Your Barry's speed? What does that mean?" Iris asks, tilting her head.

Wells stops her.

"That we can explain later. We can explain all of this later." He waves his head. "Here's what you're going to do. You're going to tell Zoom that he doesn't control the situation anymore. If he wants Barry's speed, he has to bring everyone back to this Earth. Everyone."

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, the team on Earth-1 does everything in their power to outmaneuver Zoom.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fourteen**

 **Review responses:**

 **Legendoffun- It's going to be a big problem in this chapter about how they're going to outmaneuver Zoom. Also, I'm putting in something special for you.**

 **KDesai- Thanks! Keep enjoying!**

 **Crimson Comet- Caitlin is really affected by the Jay reveal. You'll see some of the effects in this chapter. It's just difficult for her having to keep up at least some professionalism because of everything that's going on. Oh, and as for Jay, himself. You might get some bad news pretty soon.**

 **Guest- Trust me when I say, Barry's not in the clear yet.**

* * *

Jesse looks around the corner into the hallway which had their temporary hostage. Jay is leaning back against the wall like he had done a thousand times before. Except before he wasn't locked up in one of STAR Labs Metahuman containment cells.

So, big difference.

She looks over behind her to see that her father was already making his back to the command center of the labs.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Jesse starts, picking up her pace to catch up.

Wells takes a long moment to answer her.

"I suppose we wait a little while then send Jay back to Earth-2 with our message. We need to prepare ourselves for whatever might happen."

"But you don't just think Zoom's going to bring everyone over? I mean, he will know you're lying, right?"

Wells looks over to her for a split second before tearing his gaze away and Jesse feels something tighten in her chest.

"What did that look mean?" She asks as they reach the open room of command. Her tone cuts through the one sided conversation Iris appears to be having with a less than talkative Caitlin.

Caitlin notices them coming in and shuts off the display of the prisoners cell with a flick of her wrist.

"What did what look mean?" Iris says and looks over to Wells. All of the lights in the labs are on even as the sun begins to rise outside the windows.

She doesn't need an answer as the exact same expression crosses over the scientists face. It can only be described as guilt.

"We were discussing the situation," Wells starts slowly. "Or at least we were beginning to discuss the situation and I realized that I'm not completely sure that we've been able to comprehend the magnitude of this."

"I think we've pretty got down that Zoom is awful. That's not going to help us beat him, though." Iris tells him, standing up from her seat behind the computers next to Caitlin and crossing her arms.

"What would help us beat Zoom at this point? Please, tell me."

"Well, we haven't exactly come up with it yet."

"There might be a reason for that."

"It doesn't really matter if there was a reason before. We just need to do it now.

"Okay," Wells pinches his nose. "You don't understand what I'm saying. We aren't going to beat Zoom and at this point maybe we should accept that and just give him what he wants."

Caitlin snaps out of her fog.

"Wait, what?" Her chair slides a few feet as she bolts up. "You don't get to do this." She practically spits, her face heating up. "You don't get to say anything about giving up."

Wells holds up his hands, stepping back.

"We are not giving up. We are doing the farthest thing from giving up. We're living to fight another day and the only way to even have a chance of doing that, we might need to give Zoom what he wants. For now."

Silence fills the room.

"You want to give Zoom Barry's speed." Jesse feels chills going up her arm.

"There's nothing we can do no matter where we are. Bringing Zoom here might give us a home field advantage, but you weren't on Earth-2. You didn't see how useless anyone is without speed when going up against a speedster. Especially Zoom."

Iris shakes her head.

"There's always another option."

"Iris,-"

"You think Zoom won't just kill us after he gets Barry's speed?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, please." Caitlin laughs bitterly then sees the slightly taken back on everyone's faces in the room. "Sorry, that was unnecessary." She looks down. "I'm just a little shaken up right now."

Iris places a hand lightly on her shoulder.

"We just need to figure it out." Iris starts. "We just need to think through everything we know about Zoom and figure this out."

Iris looks over to Jesse for support.

"We've been working with the same information this entire time." Jesse starts, looking away. "My dad might be right. Unless we have more information, I don't know how to continue with this. I don't know even know where to begin."

"Okay, so we get new information."

Wells snorts, shaking his head.

"We have an hour or two at most before we'll need to send Jay back. Then, Jay will either do what we ask him or betray us again. The chances are probably fifty-fifty with him, but it's not like we have a choice."

"You must have learned something from being on Earth-2 with him." Caitlin shakes her head and starts again after a moment's hesitation. "If there is a chance Jay will help us, maybe he knows something."

"He's just-" Wells stops himself and takes a deep breath. A thought seems to have slammed into him at last. "You don't know." He sighs.

"What?" Iris's eyebrows furrow together.

Harrison closes his eyes for a moment and decides how exactly he could go about telling them, two of the most important women in Barry's life.

"We did learn something about Zoom on Earth-2. He meant to throw us off our game and it probably worked."

"What?"

Wells shrugs and sees no way to put it lightly.

"Zoom is Barry Allen from Earth-3."

"That's insane." Iris says without pause.

"That doesn't make it any less true."

"He's a completely different person, though." Caitlin struggles.

"So are you're doppelgangers. Just think of it like them."

"But...Barry, Barry can't be-"

"Stop right there." Wells holds up his hand. "Zoom had a completely different life from our Barry. This is not the time to get caught up that."

Iris brings her hands up to her forehead and paces to the other side of the room while Caitlin just stands there. Maybe the shock of Jay had at least numbed her slightly to another blow.

"Fine." Iris finally says, using everything she has to not get choked up. She's made it this far. "Not today. I get it."

"That can't help us at all?" Jesse tries.

"No, I don't see how." Wells starts. "It's not like Barry has any health conditions we can use, correct?" He looks over to Caitlin.

"Nothing." Caitlin shakes her head tightly. "Whenever Barry's not mortally wounded from one metahuman or another, he's health is incredible."

"Okay," Wells pushes back his glasses, then suddenly stops. "Whenever he's not mortally wounded...Interesting."

Iris perks up.

"You've thought of something."

"Maybe." Dr. Wells takes a step toward the whiteboard then turns back around. "I need all of Barry's medical files."

"He doesn't have any medical conditions." Caitlin still doesn't hesitate to start up in the direction of the medical bay.

"Yes, but I've never seen anyone win as much as Barry Allen and I've never seen anyone lose as much as Barry Allen." Wells follows behind her with a new purpose in his step.

"Your point?" Jesse asks her father.

"Why do we use the cold gun against Zoom?" Wells prods her.

"It works against speedsters." She says as they all enter into the white walls of the room. The beds lining the wall seem especially haunting today.

"And how did we know that?"

"It worked against Barry."

"Exactly. That was just specific to all speedsters, though, do that's why we could use it." Wells pulls open one of the top filing cabinets Caitlin directs him to. "We haven't looked into any other options from these files because they are all specific to Barry. Now, though, we can find out what else worked against Barry and use that to our advantage."

Caitlin processes that and chooses a file from the cabinet.

"I know something that would work. It would take down Zoom, but…" She trails off staring at the unopened file.

"What?" Jesse tries to peek over at the file.

"It might end up killing our Barry."

She hands the file over to Jesse and Wells.

Wells raises his eyebrows after reading the first few sentences and looks up to Caitlin.

* * *

Barry wraps his arms around himself once more in his cell.

The chill still hangs in the glass like a fog that wasn't going to ever part into sun again though Oliver-3 seems not to notice it. Barry couldn't even bother to guess at this point about why the man refused to get within five feet of him even though they were stuck together in eight feet of space.

The speedster's aching head was making it hard for him to concentrate.

The lack of food and low temperature were leveling his healing abilities. Caitlin would be having a fit right now about his probable concussion.

"Hey, Barry." Cisco whispers over to him. He and Oliver had switched spots at Cisco's request so that Cisco could catch him up on everything. "Hey."

"Yeah," Barry feels nauseous at turning his head to his friend.

"You okay?" He starts leaning as close to Barry as possible. "You look a little like you did when you were in that coma. Except this time you also look like you're going to puke too."

"Thanks, Cisco."

"Seriously. I mean, we've told you everything with us. What happened...After we left?"

Barry looks down for a moment before raising his eyes back up and shaking his head.

"Nothing." He tries for a reassuring smile. "I've just been sitting here.

Judging from the darkened look on Cisco's face, Barry doesn't do very well in his attempt.

"We're getting you out of here, Barry."

"I know. I know, Cisco." Barry nodds.

"And then we're going to take down Zoom all together."

The speedster tugs down the sleeves of the grey sweatshirt he was wearing and closes his eyes. He brings his knees up closer to his chest.

"I saw Zoom's face." Barry stops. "Well, he showed me his face."

Cisco swallows and looks over to Joe who had been trying to not seem like he was listening in on their conversation. He had wanted to give Barry some space. Barry didn't need to be hounded at this point.

"Barry," Joe sees this as the point to step in despite having to speak up from across the room. "It doesn't mean anything. Whatever face he wears, it doesn't matter."

Barry whips his head over to his father.

"You know."

"Oliver kind of let us in on it." Cisco tells him. "And on Jay."

Cisco immediately regrets mentioning Jay because of the look that dredges up on Barry's face. Betrayal is a touchy spot for all of them.

"Great." Barry sighs.

A figure runs into the run with yellow lightning trailing behind him.

Jay comes to a running stop. He looks around the room at the disgusted faces turning toward him and sighs.

"Where's Dr. Wells?" Joe pulls tightly against his handcuffed wrist.

"On Earth-1."

"What did you do to them?"

"I didn't do anything." Jay laughs. "They saw through me like a glass of water and locked me up in one of those cells you have in STAR."

"Why are you here, then?" Cisco asks sharply, looking over to an unusually silent Barry.

Blue lightning fills the room before settling right behind Jay.

"Because he failed." A masked Zoom rasps. "How badly did you fail Jay?"

"They're insisting that you bring everyone to Earth-1. Wells says he'll give you Barry's speed only there." Jay tells him. His face tense.

"He said what?" Joe looks like he wants to shoot someone. Maybe, multiple people.

"Great. Absolutely great." Zoom walks around Jay to stare at his prisoners. He turns around slowly. "Well, I think you've served your purpose to me. Are you ready for your reward?"

Jay blinks.

"What?"

"You've done everything I 've asked whether successfully or not. I'm ready to give you what is your's." Zoom turns to Jay. "Come upstairs."

Jay nods slowly with a shadowed face.

"Okay."

He follows Zoom to the stairs and risks one last glance back to the quiet prisoners. He gets only glares in return. The two disappear up the steps.

"I can't believe this." Cisco starts.

"Zoom's not going through with it. He would never give someone their speed back." Joe tries to reassure him.

"Well, what's he going to do then?" Cisco looks over to Barry for help.

Barry is opening his mouth when a sound echoes through the house followed by two more.

The gunshots have barely stopped ringing in their shocked faces when Zoom runs back into the room and throws a gun into the center of the room, far away from the walls.

"Thank you for that, Detective West. It was an interesting alternative to my usual chosen methods."

He leaves little red smudges from his footprints in the floor as he zooms away.

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, the trap is sprung.**

 **Note from the author: A small warning that we're getting pretty close to the ending here. Only a few chapters more.** **Enjoy!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Guest- Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoy it!**

 **Crimson Comet- I'm really, really sorry about doing that to Jay, but it's just what had to happen. Hopefully, there's something that will make you happy in this chapter.**

 **Legendoffun- Okay, so Barry and Oliver-3 are in the glass cell. Across the room Joe is handcuffed to a metal pipe. On the other wall, Cisco is handcuffed to a separate metal pipe. Go back to past chapters and it's all there. Sorry if it's confusing and enjoy.**

 **KDesai- Maybe… Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

Wells types away at the computer board and fills the room with the steady noise. He ignores the dry twinges in his eyes, barely bothering to blink at this point.

"Have you found it?" Iris leans over his shoulder.

Wells doesn't look back to her.

"No."

"Are you getting closer?" She says and Wells' face tightens as her hair falls in his face. He clicks one button on the board three times in a row then lifts both of his hands from the keys.

"How would I be able to know if I'm getting closer when I'm not sure where I'm supposed to be looking?" He asks her, spinning the chair around.

Iris sighs and lets Caitlin step forward.

"Try to keep looking at Thawne's old files. I'm sure he must have kept it."

"Of course he would." Jesse sighs, turning her chair around in circles. "Why wouldn't a psychopath keep some super creepy weapon like that?" She looks over to her father's screen. "Do you want some help?"

Wells glances over to her and she tilts her head as if daring him to say no.

"Sure."

Jesse immediately straightens up and boots the computer in front of her on. The sun seems to be rising much too quickly outside.

A few moments pass between the group with Caitlin and Iris shifting from one foot to the other. They had nothing they could prepare until what they were looking for was actually found. Their entire plan depended on it.

Caitlin is about to suggest a change in plans when Jesse suddenly makes a noise.

"Found it." Jesse sings and waves her hand up.

"What?" Wells shots back from his seat to Jesse's terminal. "How did you find it so quickly?"

"You were looking in the wrong place." She shrugs and smirks over to Iris.

Wells reads over the file heading and pinches the tip of his nose.

"Of course he hide it with Cisco's files on the cold gun."

"Really?" Caitlin crinkles her nose. "I suppose that was somewhere Cisco definitely wasn't going to be looking around anytime soon after the entire fiasco."

Iris studies the information on the screen and crosses her arms.

"Okay, so is it everything you need?"

"Other than some high volume speakers which we should be able to scrape together somewhere around here, this appears to be it. All of the information on Barry's specific speed frequencies are there-"

"Along with the opposites." Jesse adds quickly and Caitlin seems to inflate a bit at the new burst of hope for them.

"If we're going to get together all of Hartley's research and have everything up and going, we'll need to move quickly then." Caitlin brushes back a strand of hair. "Hopefully, we have an hour or so before Zoom comes here."

"Just an hour?" Jesse looks up at her with disbelief.

* * *

"Your friends are fools." Zoom rasps, pacing around the center if the room. After a moment of silence, he rips off his mask and lets it hang around the back of his neck.

Cisco and Joe both flinch away from his glare stolen from Barry's face.

"They just don't get it." He starts again. "They could change the location a million times and I will still win. I have still won no matter where we are."

"Why are you keeping us here. Alive." Joe asks him, ignoring Zoom's rant.

"I have no urge whatsoever to end you." Zoom starts. "It's beneath me and beside the point."

"Beside the point? What does that mean?"

The dark speedster sighs as if he were addressing the questions of an insolent child.

"My plans include your punishment, don't worry. And believe me when I say it fits the crime."

"You're-"

"Oh, shut up." Zoom's voice darkens and any Barryness evaporates from his face as he stares over to his double. "What is it about those people? They insist on trying to figure everything out. To find a way to stop me. They could chose to survive if they would just do nothing and let me take what I need."

Joe snorts from where he is handcuffed to a wall pipe on the far side of the room across from the glass cage.

"We would never do that." Barry's father tells him bluntly.

"Why? Why face death?"

"Barry is our family...And you are a criminal."

"What does any of that matter when it comes to saving your own life?" Zoom paces faster and shakes his head.

"You'll never understand." Cisco speaks up, shifting slightly as tension fills the room and covers all of the occupants.

Zoom stops and looks over to Cisco. He laughs after two seconds and it's a cold, emotionless laugh.

"You're probably right." Zoom shakes his head suddenly. "No, you're completely right. I don't know anything about family or friends. That's all him." He points a claw like finger to Barry like an arrow. "He got everything. Everyone gets everything except for me."

Zoom runs, sweeping away from the view of Cisco or Joe or Oliver. Soon their Barry is gone just as well with Oliver left standing alone in the cell.

Joe jerks as far up as he can.

"He just took Barry. Where did he just take Barry?"

Zoom appears back in the center of the room, dragging Barry along. He has both of his arms wrapped firmly around his double and appears to be about to move again when he suddenly decides against it and lets his arms loosen.

Barry manages to stay on his feet barely a beat after Zoom lets go before he takes a stumbled step that leads to him falling to the ground.

"Barry!" Cisco yells and his handcuffs clang against the pipe as he strains for the thousandth time to move closer.

"What did you do?" Joe shouts to Zoom, his eyes dangerous.

Barry groans on the ground, but lifts himself slightly using his left arm.

"I'm okay. It's okay."

"It's okay?" Zoom copies him using his own voice. "I wish you could look at yourself, Flash, on the ground. Helpless. What good are having riends to you now?"

"This is what it's about, isn't it?" Barry's voice is low. "You're jealous. You're just jealous."

Zoom shakes his head with some humorless smile.

"I was. When my mother was killed in front of me, when my father was sent to jail, that was the end. There was no one and nothing until I got my speed." Zoom sets his eyes on Oliver for a split second. "Trying to be a hero didn't work out." He laughs. "I just made more people hate me by the end. Finding out there were other versions of me that didn'e end up as I did, that was just a little too unfair. Now, there's nothing left here for me to be jealous of, though."

Barry shakes his head slowly.

"Yes, there is. You know there is because I still have my speed. An infinite number of Barry Allen's are out there somewhere right now with their speed and their families and their friends and everything you will never have."

Zoom shakes his head at Barry's weakly given speech.

"True." He concedes. "And I will take the speed of as many of them as possible and then I will destroy them." Zoom looks over to Cisco and Jay. "And your friends will get to live on anyway with the punishment of knowing they failed and that every version of them will fail." He pauses. "I only hope it always as...entertaining as this."

"You're sick." Cisco looks ill.

"I'm just proving a point." Zoom raises his voice and lashes out with his foot at Barry. He hits Barry directly on his chest, leaving Barry coughing on the ground. "You're all going to lose, so it doesn't even bother me to go through with the other's request."

"And what is that?" Oliver finally speaks again from his corner of silence in the now empty cage.

"We're going on a trip."

* * *

"I think this is as good as it's going to get." Jesse stands back and wipes her sweaty palms on her jeans. She examines the speakers she had set up at the top of the ceiling, turning a few dials before stepping down off the ladder. "How's it going on your end?"

Iris turns back from her own corner and makes a face at Jesse.

"I think good. They're sticking to the wall, so that's a plus."

"Great." Jesse nodds. "Is there any activity going on in the breech, Caitlin?"

"Not yet." Caitlin says, glancing over to the glowing portal in the center of the room. It glows brightly as ever and inspires the team to keep going. "We might still have some time. Maybe. Jay said he would try to buy us two hours at least since we had to send him back so quickly to avoid Zoom's getting suspicious."

"Yeah, because we can trust Jay." Jesse snorts and folds up her ladder, setting it against the wall to be moved in a moment.

Caitlin looks down with something resembling guilt in her eyes.

"He's gotten us almost that so far." She mutters as Dr. Wells suddenly speed walks into the run with a tablet in one hand.

"Okay, I've gathered all of the information on Barry's speed frequency and ran some test scenarios on whether or not Zoom's different Earth-2 frequency will affect it."

"What did you find?" Iris steps down from the ladder, a layer of worry on her face.

Wells takes a moment before answering.

"It's fine." He finally says. "As expected. Frequency is simply the speed of a wavelength while the actual size of the wavelength stays the same no matter what the speed. With any luck, it may even affect Zoom more because of his separate Earth-2 speed, but that I can't tell without a sample of an Earth-2 frequency."

Iris lets out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"As long as we turn it off before...something happens to Barry." She says.

"Don't worry." Caitlin puts a supportive hand on Iris's shoulder. "I'll make sure to give a signal when I believe it's going too far on Barry's health."

Wells makes a small noise in the back of his throat.

"Please, keep in mind the seriousness of this operation before doing so."

"Haven't we had this conversation before." Caitlin crosses her arms. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

Wells nods and takes her at her word.

Caitlin looks away as Wells goes back to focusing on his tablet and thinks back to what she had decided to do just hours ago. She feels the gnawing of worry that she might not know exactly what she was doing.

* * *

 **Around two hours ago…**

Caitlin puts her hand to the cell control panel, but doesn't move to open the cell.

"Hello, Caitlin." Jay stares at her from behind his cage door. "Are you here to sign my death warrant?"

"You said you were willing to do this."

"I know."

"Why, then?" She wants to look away from him and at the same time she doesn't want to look away from him. "Why are you doing this?"

"I guess, I'd rather die knowing that I'm making a beautiful women happy." He shakes his head.

"You're not going to die."

"I've failed one too many times. Zoom will kill me. Probably as soon as I go back there."

"Jay-"

"I'll buy you some time. You'll get to come up with whatever plan you think will work next." Jay starts. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I wish you all the luck in the world because you're going to need it, but-"

"Jay," Caitlin stops him. "You're not going to die."

The once speedster snorts as Caitlin rummages in her lab coat pocket.

"I made some adjustments to the velocity-9 formula." She tells him and he raises her eyebrows. "It should last longer than before. If he tries anything to hurt you, you should be able to get away or heal somewhat at least."

"Why are you doing this?" Jay seems to really look at her this time.

"At some point in all of this, Jay, I saw you. I don't know what happened in the past or how you got mixed up in all of this and...I want to know someday. I think we both deserve that." Caitlin shakes her head to clear her thoughts and finally presses down on the controls. "Are you ready?"

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, which Barry will be able to hold out...if either are able at all?**

 **Author's note: Just in case there are people who are like "Wait a second, Hartley would never have made the Barry-hurting-sound-frequency thing because he's good now", but that's wrong. This is before barry goes back to learn from Wells so Hartley is still very much evil. Thank you very much.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

* * *

 **Review Responses:**

 **TheJaeWalker- That might not be necessary.**

 **Legendoffun- I haven't seen Naruto, but I've heard it's pretty good. I might watch the series at some point.**

 **KDesai- Thanks so much. Keep enjoying!**

 **Repetitive Redundancies- I'm happy you found this too. I love my readers. Thanks for your review.**

* * *

"What trip?" Cisco growls, panic growing even sharper the longer he watches Barry lying on the floor in front of Zoom. He had only seen Barry like that when Zoom had broken his back before. Cisco doesn't know whether to be happy or not that this time it was hopefully just a concussion, maybe some less-terrible-if-broken bones, and a deathly severe lack of calories.

Zoom rolls his shoulders as he answers.

"The breach." Zoom tells them. "The Barry Allen native to here is weak, pathetic, and not rightful to even be recognized as one of me. This Earth is just continuing to disgust me at this point."

"That's your only reason for wanting to leave?" Joe smells the slight lie from his years of detective work. "It's not that our people on there managed to see through your plan with Jay."

"I'm sentimental too, I suppose." The villain finally gives. "I'll give those who are my doubles...family the ability to see him die on their home. It should be even more painful that way."

Neither Joe nor Cisco believe him, but they decide both to not push Zoom any further in that direction. They do not even have the time to do so before Joe is suddenly speed unlocked and torn from his wall.

Zoom takes him and disappears.

"Joe." Barry yells after him, trying to push himself up with one of his arms. The other hangs uselessly by his side.

"Barry," Oliver springs up to a standing position and tries to get the Flash's attention. "How much can you move? Can you get Cisco out of his handcuffs?"

Barry shakes his head, not responding.

"I'm sorry." His voice slurs together more than a little bit. "I just can't."

"It's okay, Barry." Cisco reassures him. "Don't move. Please." He grinds his teeth at how useless their rescue attempt was. They should be able to help Barry as much as he helps them every day.

A heartbeat later and the blue lightning bolt reappears and steals Barry away. Again.

It takes too long in Cisco's opinion for him to be rushed into the lightning himself and dragged through the streets despite its unpleasantness.

He is surprised to be deposited on the ground of the Earth-2 STAR Lab's room that housed the breach instead of on Earth-1.

"What?" He murmurs and looks over to where his handcuff is now attached to a steel leg of a desk bolted to the ground. Joe is right beside him.

"Oh, it's just me actually going to your Earth." Zoom says casually from his place at the center of the room. "I don't believe any of you are going to be necessary to scare my way into whatever I require."

Zoom disappears into the breach, leaving behind them and a now seemingly unconscious at this point Barry. It is obvious that Barry doesn't even need any type of containment at this point and Zoom is flaunting it. Barry will be dead if they don't do something soon.

Cisco is considering chewing his arm off when a new flash of speed pops into the room at a breakneck speed from the side door.

* * *

"Here's how this is going to go down." Caitlin points to each member of the team currently on Earth-1. Their numbers include her, Iris, Jesse, and Wells. "Zoom is going to come through that breach at some point. We don't know who he'll bring with him if anyone at all, but the speakers are going on anyway."

"No. Matter. What." Wells adds in, giving a pointed look to everyone. "That's the best way to protect Barry and everyone in every world when it comes down to it."

"Yes." Caitlin nods her head with wide eyes. "We turn on the speakers and Zoom should go down. The wavelengths Hartley created completely shut down their target, so after that it's just the matter of moving Zoom to a containment cell."

"We're moving him to a containment cell?" Jesse folds her arms. "After all of this?"

"What did you think was going to happen?" Caitlin asks her, turning toward the Earth-2 native.

Jesse opens and closes her mouth before continuing.

"I don't exactly have a delicate way of saying it."

"We can't just kill him."

"Why not? Think of the people he's killed." Jesse raises her voice.

"That's not what the good guys do." Iris steps in between the two women. "We can contain Zoom."

The young genius shakes her head with an unreadable face.

"You're only saying that because it's Barry Allen from another Earth. If Zoom were anyone else, then you would be completely on board with this."

"We would not-"

Wells holds up his hands to get the women's attention.

"I believe this is a decision we should make when everyone is here to add their input." He reasons with them.

"Fine." Caitlin raises her hands in surrender for now. "We shouldn't get ahead of ourselves anyway. First, we need to actually succeed in beating Zoom which would be a first time occurrence if it happens."

The harsh reality sets in on all of them.

"You don't think that Zoom just won't show up, do you?" Iris asks, looking over to Wells as he had the most experience with the villain.

"No." He answers plainly. Wells steps back from the swirling portal and motions for everyone to do the same. "Everyone keep back from the breach. We don't need any more hostages at this point."

Several speakers are wired to the top corners of the room and throughout STAR Lab's hallways along with the general speaker system. They aren't the most well hidden, but at this point the team didn't have the time to fix that.

The people waiting in the room are depending on this thing to go down quickly anyway.

"I think we might actually run out of these at some point." Caitlin says and switches the tranq gun back and forth between her hands. "Which probably doesn't matter because they haven't done that much for us anyway."

"There just for show now." Wells tells her and the conversation dries up.

"So," Jesse looks down. Her father's attempts to make her leave were left unheard and unconsidered. "This is our last chance, isn't it?"

"This is a good opportunity." Her father starts after a moment's hesitation.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I know."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that this is going to work then." Jesse finally ends, giving in after realizing the extreme levels of unfairness of her question.

They look to the breach and it quiets them all immediately with its hypnotizing and unlimited possibilities.

Caitlin backs up to stand by Iris underneath the largest speaker in the room and they both are left shifting from side to side as everyone is left in the room to wait.

Jesse walks over to them in an offer of truce from their past disagreement. She would have tried to do more, but at that moment Dr. Wells tablet goes off and distracts everyone to that one electronic device.

Wells looks down slowly to the screen.

His eyes widen.

"Sorry," He says, actually reading the notification and then looks up as sheepishly as Dr. Wells could ever look. "Cisco is always setting up so many nonsensical alarms on these-."

The crack of thunder echoes from the center of the portal and seems to pull the breath out of their lungs, leaving them cold and growing colder by the fast flying second. This is the first time that they heard Zoom coming before they saw him.

The dark speedster stands alone in the middle of the room, his head turning to take in all of them behind his dark as night, blue mask.

Alone.

"Where are they?" Caitlin starts strongly with her head held high. She risks a glance at Wells, waiting for him to put on the soundwaves, but only gets a fleeting glance of his much paler complexion as he tries to do something on the tablet without drawing attention.

Zoom ignores her for the moment. He takes a step forward and his mouth curves upward as their backs curve away from him with just his presence coming closer to them.

"Isn't it strange how much negotiating we have been trying to force ourselves through?" Zoom asks them.

"It's our jobs to not get anyone killed." Wells tells him as if that were the answer to everything. "Negotiations are only the logical means to do so."

Zoom barks out a laugh.

"Logical?" Amusement is still evident in his voice. "Negotiation is grown through fear. You're terrified of me. Rightfully so."

"Mutual fear." Wells corrects the speedster without even allowing himself to think it through and does not seem to regret it as he continues on without hesitation. "Negotiation is grown through mutual fear. Now, you're going to get Barry's speed as long as we actually get to keep Barry and everyone else."

Zoom narrows his eyes through his mask.

His stance is all too familiar to something of an attack stance to Dr. Wells as he waits for a response. Harrison lets the slim device in his hands drop to his side, his thumb sliding against the screen discreetly.

"I've grown tired of this game continuing on." Zoom nods. "I have other things I need to accomplish."

"Understandable." Wells says just as a screeching vibration sounds out at an almost unbearable volume over the speakers.

The tiny hairs on the back of Zoom's neck are the first to respond as they stand up with a tingled zap that resounds underneath his skin. Zoom is on his knees before he can even comprehend that the sound is what was causing his pain.

"That boom Zoom made when coming through the breach temporarily knocked out the speakers." Wells yells over to the women from across the room. He looks to Zoom as if he isn't quite believing that the speedster is actually falling.

It is very real, though.

The soundwaves tore through Zoom like the evil that had wriggled its way into his soul years before, but with a much more physical pain that may or may not be worse than the former.

He pulls back at his mask, almost unwillingly, in response to trying to find something that could end the assault on his very molecules and it is the first time that many of the people in the room have seen what is underneath the mask.

Iris and Caitlin would have had to admit before that moment that they did not actually believe it was a version of their Barry.

"Oh my god." Iris breathes out to only herself. She blinks three times just to check again that this wasn't some deception.

"Don't get caught up in his face." Iris hears Wells say, but in looking to him she realizes that he is directing his command to Caitlin. Caitlin is the only other one in the room with a tablet hanging in her hand at the moment with Iris and Jesse having applications on their phones in their pockets to set it off.

"Easier said than done." Caitlin mutters, having to turn around to steady herself with the support of seeing everyone else just as unsettled as her. "Let's move him to the cells."

Caitlin claps her hands together to spur some motivation and gives a slightly disbelieving gaze to the writhing man on the ground. She motions with a hand to let Wells take the first step toward Zoom, but freezes as a blimp suddenly appears at the center of the breach, getting closer.

She is not the only one to notice.

"What is that?" Jesse points to the growing larger dot.

Wells whirls to his side to see what she is speaking of and curses under his breath.

"Do not turn off the speakers." The doctor has the chance to tell them before a new figure practically falls onto the ground as he drags along two other travelers with him.

The figure catches him and straightens up, turning around to the team.

"Jay?" Caitlin whispers as he comes face to face with her and smiles. She has to both keep her feet stuck to where they are and remove her gaze from the man to get a grip on what else has changed in the room, most notable the people. "Cisco?" Her nose crinkles as she sees and recognizes the other newcomer next to Cisco. "Oliver?"

"What is that noise?" Cisco shouts at her covering his ears. His eye widens as he realizes that Zoom is currently on the ground instead of killing them all.

"It's the-" Jesse stops as Jay runs back into the breach and causes a rush of wind through the room. "It's Hartley's soundwaves."

"What?" A look of panic flies over Cisco's face. "Jay's about to bring Barry here. I think he's trying to save us."

* * *

 **Next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, a life hangs in the balance as all hell breaks lose.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

 **Review Responses:**

 **KDesai- Well, they don't really want to reach Barry right now with the soundwaves and everything going on. Though, they're not going to have much of a choice in the matter.**

 **Iris Patton- That's where I love to keep my readers. Enjoy!**

 **Guest- Thanks! Here it is.**

 **Legendoffun- Don't I know it.**

* * *

" _Jay?" Caitlin whispers as he comes face to face with her and smiles. She has to both keep her feet stuck to where they are and remove her gaze from the man to get a grip on what else has changed in the room, most notable the people. "Cisco?" Her nose crinkles as she sees and recognizes the other newcomer next to Cisco. "Oliver?"_

" _What is that noise?" Cisco shouts at her covering his ears. His eye widens as he realizes that Zoom is currently on the ground instead of killing them all._

" _It's the-" Jesse stops as Jay runs back into the breach and causes a rush of wind through the room. "It's Hartley's soundwaves."_

" _What?" A look of panic flies over Cisco's face. "Jay's about to bring Barry here. I think he's trying to save us."_

* * *

 **A few minutes before…**

The flash of light streaks into the Earth-2 STAR Labs room. The figure slows to a complete halt and drops the other man he had been carrying with him.

Oliver-3 staggers only a moment from Jay before righting himself on his two feet.

"Jay?" Cisco's jaw drops. Though, he's not sure whether it's from Jay still being alive or Jay showing up back in front of them with Oliver.

Jay glances to Cisco with a guarded expression.

"Not dead." Jay confirms, but then brings his hand up to trace the blood stains on his shirt. "Though, Zoom did shoot me. Multiple times."

"How are you still alive?" Joe asks him, keeping one eye on the glowing breach behind Jay. The emptiness if it gave him chills.

"Caitlin gave me a second chance." Jay looks down to the ground then back up to them with intense eyes. "I plan to pay her back for that."

"What are you talking-"

Jay holds up his hand to stop Cisco and Cisco does do so with some offense taken. Well, a decent amount of offense taken.

"Zooms on Earth-1?" Jay points to the breach.

Joe nods after a beat, almost unsure if it was safe to tell the once backstabber. He doesn't exactly have an option with Barry on the floor not to far away from the temporary speedster.

"How's Barry?" Jay looks over to the young hero on the ground and leans down to make sure there were no lethal injuries he was missing.

"Not great." Cisco starts. "Zoom must have beat him up pretty badly while Killer Frost was still keeping the cage a refrigerator and I don't know the last time he ate anything."

Jay winces, remembering his own accounts of calorie deprivation when he was a speedster. He seems to make some calculations in his head and looks between the group and the breach.

"I don't have much more time with the accelerated Velocity-9, so we need to get back now if that's where you want to go."

Cisco and Joe share a look.

"Yes." They say at the same time.

"Okay." Jay agrees and glances over to Oliver. "You want to come or stay on this Earth? Your choice."

Oliver purses his lips.

"Whichever gets me one step closer to getting back to my own Earth."

"Their Earth it is." Jay says and promptly speeds into the breach with Cisco on one arm and Oliver-3 on the other. "I'll be back for you two." He yells to Joe as they disappear.

Joe is left wondering if they had just made a huge mistake in the whirlwind of the last two minutes.

* * *

 **Present…**

"He's bringing Barry here now?" Caitlin's eyes widen as she yells over the speakers. She swipes at the screen by the door that controls it and the door slides open. Zoom writhing on the ground fills her mind and she looks desperately to Wells. "Right now?"

"Yes. You have to turn that off." Cisco shouts back.

Wells shudders slightly, but forces himself to get over the chills and closes the space between him and Zoom.

"No. We need to lock up Zoom first." Dr. Wells motions for Cisco to help him.

"Okay. Yes." Cisco stutters, stepping back and forth from Zoom with obvious jumpiness.

"Quickly." He finally steels himself to do the job.

Zoom groans loudly as Wells grabs one arm and Cisco grabs the other. He doesn't appear nearly as intimidating like this, but a sense of foreboding still fills Cisco and Wells as they hear the painful moans that sound so much like their Barry.

"Didn't think we'd find a way, did you?" Wells lets himself gloat just a tiny bit. "These are an intelligent group of people here."

Zoom doesn't say anything in return and lets his head and feet hang loosely. His position made it even harder to be moved toward the doorway.

The adrenalin rush pulsing through Cisco pushes him on despite that and he and Wells make it to the door seconds later. They are about to make it through the doorway when something in the breach distracts them from their load.

Jay crashes back into their Earth and Joe falls to the ground from the transport.

Joe picks himself up and helps Jay lower Barry down to the ground.

"What is that-" Joe stops as Barry suddenly clutches his hands and regains some sort of consciousness. "What's going on? Joe demands.

Wells opens his mouth to answer when a shout stops him from the other Earth-3 native of the room.

"Watch out." Oliver barks out, throwing his hand down to Zoom, but is too late to warn the others of what the speedster was up to.

The hidden smirk on Zoom's face that Oliver had been trying to point out grows as he suddenly launches himself to the side with the last burst of strength he had. He tears his way out of Cisco's grip to smash his hand into the wall screen with the force of his last bit of speed.

The door slams shut, just barely missing Dr. Well's foot that was half out the doorway when Zoom broke loose.

Oliver is on them in a second and tackles Zoom back to the ground where the speedster stays down and begins to cough after an attempt to darkly chuckle to himself.

A red droplet marks the edge of his lips.

"What's going on?" Joe shouts to Wells. He leans down onto his knees where and places his hand on Barry's trembling arm. "What are you doing?"

Caitlin rushes forward to Barry and automatically begins to check his vitals as well as she could.

"It's Hartley's soundwaves." She shakes her head. "It was the only way to incapacitate Zoom." She looks to where Wells was practically beating on the door panel to get it to open the doorway again. "Will you please get that to open." Caitlin shouts at him.

"I'm trying."

"Turn off the speakers." Joe's voice practically cracks with his shout as a wave of frantic energy pulses over him. "You're killing him."

Wells visible tenses and chooses to not answer him just yet. He had to fix this first.

"Zoom will kill us if we do."

"Barry isn't going to make it longer than Zoom. He's too hurt already." Joe tries to desperately reason with him as Barry curls up to himself even more.

"Someone needs to take down Zoom." Jay bellows, crossing his arms. "I'll do it. Just give me the word."

"We aren't killing anyone." Iris shouts back, not letting herself get closer to Barry as she knew she would break down if she did. "Can't we just tranq him?"

"The soundwaves will definitely kill him if we slow down his healing with tranquilizers and we can't turn off the speakers until we know Zoom will stay down from them." Caitlin's voice is shaking.

"Someone do something." Joe screams to anyone in the room.

"I'm working on it." Wells throws his hands away from the panel and focuses on his tablet.

"You won't be able to hack into the door controls in time." Cisco tries to grab at the device, but Wells pulls it away. "Let me have that."

"Zoom will kill us if we turn the speakers off." Wells hisses.

"I'm not going to turn them off. I can get the door open." Cisco meets the doctor's gaze straight on. "Trust me."

Wells hands over the tablet to Cisco without a second beat.

* * *

Wells has to hide that his hand is trembling when he gives Cisco the tablet.

The last thing that kid needs to know is that he's just as...scared as the rest of them, but he can't have the privilege of letting himself be a good person right now. Or a bad person.

Maybe none of them have the privilege of anything now.

* * *

Caitlin feels Barry's temperature for the third time in less than that many minutes.

There is nothing else for her to do.

She didn't have any medical tools. She didn't have any antibiotics. She didn't have any thread and needle or bandages. She didn't have any blood for transfusions. She didn't have any of the equipment that was sitting just a few hundred feet away from her in a room that might as well have been on Earth-2.

Barry's cool to the touch when he was always supposed to be warmer than her own hand.

She should have gone with them.

What else was wrong with Barry that she didn't know about? She would try to lift up his sweatshirt, which she had no idea why he was wearing, but she appreciated the extra warmth it gave him, but he's already in too much pain to move at this point.

Caitlin catches a glance of Barry's skin as a new wave a agony causes him to clutch his arms even tighter around his head, shifting up his shirt for just a moment.

The speakers need to stop.

She could see the signs of internal bleeding from the dark bruises pooling underneath his skin.

* * *

Cisco is going to smash this tablet as soon as he gets the door open.

Why is it not connected into the main system? Why would any of the tablets here not be connected to the main system?

"Is this new?" Cisco yells to Wells without lifting his eyes or stopping his hands other than a small gesture to the device.

"No."

"What's wrong with it? Why isn't it connected?"

Cisco doesn't see the flash of recognition passing over the eyes of the scientist across from him.

"I unconnected it from the main system." Wells can barely get it out. "An alarm went off when I needed to put to speakers on and I just had to remove it from the system completely and only use the wireless speakers we had set up manually."

Cisco's hands freeze for just a moment.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea." Wells starts, but Cisco stops him by shaking his head.

"I set it up to not go off without me turning it off personally. It's on me." Cisco grinds his teeth. "I'll just hack back into the system. No problem."

* * *

Barry just wants to go back to sleep.

Everything is blurring and everything is painful in a way that's familiar, but not in the way that all pains tend to have some resemblance to each other.

He thinks Caitlin might be here and it scares him because he's not quite sure where here is anymore. He hears Joe's voice, floating around him like he was underwater.

He doesn't know if whatever is causing his pain is killing him faster than the raw panic bubbling around him from being so useless. Something is happening around him.

Something is happening.

His tongue is too thick to move and his ears feel like they are going to explode.

There's a good chance that he's dying.

Or is he already dead?

* * *

Jay watches all of this and glances from Barry to Caitlin who was doing her best to be working anywhere but somewhere that would make her have to look at him.

"This is ridiculous." He breathes out at the chaos surrounding him.

...

Caitlin and Joe are leaning over their Barry, both practically hysterical over their current uselessness as the young man in front of them was torn apart piece by piece.

…

Oliver-3 is standing there. He's just as useless as Jay when there's nothing that they can muscle around.

...

Cisco and Wells are over their tablet and it looks very likely that Jesse was going to be the next to jump in despite Cisco's assurances.

...

Zoom. He's just lying there. On the floor. He's going to outlive his Earth-1 double. Jay could tell that now. It had just been moments. Not even minutes. That splotch of evil was still going to ruin so many lives even though he's finally going down.

He is going to make it up to Caitlin Snow. He's going to make everything up to Caitlin Snow.

* * *

Zoom laughs to himself.

He might be being torn apart, but he was taking so many people down with him him in so many different ways.

They were going to turn off the speakers anyway.

He coughs again, savoring the taste of copper on his tongue and coating the top of his mouth.

They're just scrambling around trying to find an honorable way to end this without spilling any more blood like a bunch of fools. Everyone knew that he had ruined their precious exit strategy of a single door with no other options.

Zoom opens up his eyes from his warily forgotten position on the ground.

A look of hate met his at an intensity he would usually feel a strange sort of satisfaction at seeing just on the street. This was slightly different though.

He had seen a lot of looks in Jay's eyes over the time he had extracted his loyalty, but an unrestricted, unfearful hate was new.

And it was coming right at him.

Zoom doesn't feel Jay when the man finally reaches him and pushes him up onto his feet against the wall over the pulse of the speakers.

Zoom doesn't hear the shout of alarm from around the room over the screeching of the speakers.

Zoom just sees himself on the floor at the center of the room. He was surrounded by people who wanted him to live. People who wanted that him to be okay.

Zoom feels hate instead of his neck being snapped when Jay finally kills him. Hate and the slight rush of air as the door slides open a foot away from him.

It's over. And the room finally goes quiet. The room finally goes quiet.

* * *

 **Now is usually the time when I say next time on Prisoner of Earth-2, but I don't think I'm going to for chapter nineteen, the last chapter. Expect to receive the conclusion wrap-up this weekend.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

 **Instead of my usual review response, I'm just going to say something to all of my readers.**

 **Thank you and enjoy.**

* * *

A beeping fills the room.

It fills it with relief and with steadiness and with the hope that all things can be overcome someday if they only just keep on going.

Caitlin hadn't left Barry's side from the moment he had come back.

It had taken too long for her just to be comfortable in saying he was stable again. His accelerated healing was gone until she was able to get enough glucose back into his system for it to pick up.

"How is he?" Cisco pops his head into the medical bay.

"He's…" Caitlin looks down to the speedster, half under the covers. "Okay."

Cisco lets out a breath that he had been holding ever since they had to leave Barry behind on that other Earth.

"That was close, wasn't it?"

"Close is an understatement." She sighs and glances back up to the vitals monitor.

A beat of silence passes between them.

"So, I vote that we don't go to any more alternate universes."

Caitlin musters up a small laugh for him.

"I think we're going to have to return a few people back to their respective homes first." She tells Cisco.

"Yeah, Oliver is kind of creeping me out. We should probably do that first." Cisco raises his index finger. "Then, though, no more after that."

"I'm not sure if we can keep Barry from resisting himself." She says and practically jumps as a voice speaks up next to her.

"I can hear you talking about me." Barry murmurs sluggishly without opening his eyes. A small frown tugs at his lips as he finally summons the strength to fully wake himself up. "Is this real?"

"That depends." Cisco crosses his arms and tries to begin seriously. "What are your thoughts on the realness of the Matrix?"

Caitlin gives Cisco a look and scoots her chair a little closer to Barry.

"Yes, this is real." She tries to assure him.

"Zoom?" He asks slowly.

"Zoom's not going to hurt anyone ever again." Caitlin answers after a beat. The perkiness is just a bit too strong in her voice.

"What happened?"

Caitlin opens her mouth, but Cisco interrupts her before she can get out any more words.

"We took him down, you know." He starts. "Someone had to while you were just napping for the entire week."

"Where is he, though." Barry doesn't let up on his persistence. He tries to sit up in the bed and groans. "Is he in the Pipeline?"

Caitlin looks down.

"Zoom's dead." She tells him and he doesn't even blink.

"I thought that was a dream."

"Your body still has a lot of recovering to do. It'll take some time for things to clear up with that concussion you had."

"Hartley's soundwaves were a good idea." Barry starts and Caitlin nods at first, but then quickly changes to shaking her head from side to side.

"No, you don't need to avoid talking about Jay for me."

"He killed Zoom?" Barry doesn't really seem to be asking.

"Along with many other things." She answers bitterly and motions in the general direction of the cells. "He's in the pipeline."

"Have you talked to him yet?" Barry asks him.

Caitlin gets up from her chair and walks to the front of Barry's bed as if she were the one with superpowers, reaching for his chart.

"I'd much rather talk to you right now." She tells him, flipping upon the pages. "Are you feeling alright? Any pain that's too bad. I mean, not that painkillers work on you, but-?"

"You should talk to him."

Caitlin purses her lips, closing the file in front of her and pretending to read the very first cover page again.

"What would I even say? I mean, what are we going to do?"

"About Jay?" Cisco shrugs his shoulders. "I think we just need to decide which Jay he's ended up being at the end of all of this."

She nods after a moment and turns around silently.

"Keep an eye on Barry, Okay?" She tells Cisco as she walks past him out of the windowed room.

* * *

"Where are we going to go now?" Jesse looks up to her father.

She switches her gaze to the screens that filled the bullpen and waits for his answer even if she wasn't sure if she would follow whatever he said.

Harrison lets himself sink down into one of the rolling chairs and pats the other, trying to signal for her to join her. She does slowly.

"Where do you want to go?" He asks his daughter, truly looking at her.

"I want, I want to go back to our home."

Wells seems to let himself process that for a moment.

"Okay, then. We'll go back home. Whatever you want to do, we'll do."

"I'm not finished." She stops him, shaking her head. "I want to go home, but I don't know where that is anymore for us."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that this whole Zoom thing feels like it's lasted for a lifetime, two lifetimes probably. It's going to be so weird to go back to our old lives and it's like we have something here that's also weird, but it's real."

"I'm sorry." Wells tells her. "I'm sorry you got pulled into this and I'm sorry it's turned into something that shouldn't ever had been near you."

"I'm not a kid, dad. I just need to process all of this." She wrings her hands. "And I need to hear what you are thinking too."

"I'm thinking that I just want you to be happy and I want you to know that I'm here for you."

"Dad…"

"Jesse, you were taken by Zoom and I couldn't do anything."

"Dad-" She tries again, but is stopped.

"I watched as Zoom got Barry too and I got to see another father go through the same thing. It gave me all of the perspective I needed.

"Perspective." Jesse smiles at the word. "Perspective's nice." She runs her hand over the metal of the computer dock next to her. "Maybe, we shouldn't just chose one or the other forever. Look at the breach we were able to open in just a couple days. We could come back at least sometimes if they ever needed us. I mean, we can't just leave and never come back. They're friends here."

Jesse looks to study her father's face and just sees acceptance for whatever she wanted. Somewhere behind all of that, though, he looks happy.

She knew he had made friends.

They had made friends.

* * *

Cisco watches Caitlin as she walks around the corner then turns back to Barry. He waits a moment before stepping forward to take the seat Caitlin had left.

"So, dude, what's up really?" Cisco asks him, heaving himself down in the uncomfortable chair. "Are you good?"

"I think so?" Barry blinks as if he were about to fall back into the darkness.

"That's not very confident."

"I confidently think so?"

"That's better." Cisco tells him then frowns. He just kept seeing the entire sequence of events over and over and over again. "Barry, I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything, Cisco. It's okay."

"No, it's not okay. Specifically because I _didn't_ do anything." Cisco says and doesn't let Barry cut in when the other man tries. "I walked away when you were stuck in that glass box and I shouldn't have. We might have been able to get you out and look what happened."

"Look what happened?" Barry winces as he raises his voice a notch. "You guys saved me. You got me back from that psycho and you all stopped Zoom. Without speed."

"We didn't exactly do it easily. People died."

"You did your bests."

"What if it wasn't good enough? What if it isn't good enough the next time something happens?"

"Then, we'll figure it out." Barry raises his hands up as far as he can.

Cisco shakes his head and swallows.

"I think I was supposed to be the one comforting you." Cisco tells him and doesn't miss the darkness of past pain and fear that passed through Barry's eyes.

They all had some healing to do.

"Hey," Joe walks into the room and a smile takes over his face. "You're awake. How are you feeling?"

The man embraces his son as lightly as possible because of his injuries.

"You don't know how many times I've been asked that question in the minutes I've been awake, Joe."

"Oh well, you'd better get used to it because Iris is just behind me and I don't think she's going to let up on this one for a long, long time."

Barry snorts at the thought and smiles up to his father.

"I think I'll manage." He tells him and Cisco can't help but agree even if he doesn't say it outloud.

They would all manage.

* * *

"I didn't think you would come here." Jay's eyes are only on Caitlin as the iron curtain slides up to reveal the cell behind it.

"I didn't think I would come here either." She practically echoes him before finding her own voice. "There, there are some things I need to say to you."

"Please. Go ahead."

Caitlin nods and takes a second to collect her mind.

"You were lying to us for a long, long time." She clenches her fist. "At any point you could have told us what Zoom was making you do. We would have understood."

"Will you understand now?"

"Don't interrupt." Caitlin raises a hand. "So you didn't tell us and you continued to work under him. Then, for some reason, you changed your mind or something and you said you wanted to be on our side. What changed?"

"You know what changed."

"I'm not sure if I do anymore."

"You changed me. You all changed me and I didn't want to see that monster do to you what he did to me."

"So you killed him?" Caitlin shakes her head. "The door was opening Jay and you broke his neck with your bare hands."

"You still had to drag him to a cell. Barry would have died, Caitlin."

"You took the easy way out and it's not okay that in your mind that means killing."

"That was not the easy way out." Jay looks down. "My own speed died with Zoom. I will never get it back and I knew that when I killed him."

Caitlin breathes out and pushes back her hair.

"That isn't why it was supposed to be hard."

"I'm lost, Caitlin. Okay?" Jay chokes out. "I got pulled off my path and I ended up somewhere dark and being in the light just blinded me at first."

"How are we supposed to know if your eyes are ever going to adjust?" Caitlin pleads with him.

"Help them. Please. Help me."

The two are left staring at each other from different sides of the glass. Caitlin can't see all of the cracks that had formed inside of Jay and he couldn't see her own, but in that moment she still brings her hand up to sit it lightly against the glass of his cell and lets it rest there.

* * *

"Hey there." Cisco sits up as a whole slew of other Earthers show up outside of the med bay. "What's up?"

"We just came to check on the patient." Wells says, wrapping an arm around his daughter's shoulder.

"How are you doing, Barry?" Jesse asks him.

Barry and Cisco share a funny look over the question before he answers.

"Good." Barry says and smiles to reassure them. "At least, a lot better. I guess I should thank all of you."

"We owed you." Wells shrugs his shoulders and looks over his shoulder as Caitlin walks down the turn into the hallway outside the med bay.

She gives him a weak smile and moves to change Barry's saline bag.

"What are we talking about?" She finally asks them, closing the supplies drawer.

Cisco and Barry give her both similar looks of concern, but she waves them off with a small smile.

"Just catching up." Barry tells her with his own relieved grimace. He waves his hand to all of the people who had found themselves there together.

"We have to figure out what's going to happen now." Cisco leans back in his chair.

"Well, I believe," Dr. Wells starts, taking in the room with Barry, his daughter, Cisco, Iris, Caitlin, and Joe. "Whatever is decided, it's going to be okay."

"At least until the next world ending crisis." Cisco raises an empty hand to toast them.

* * *

 **Until we meet again...**

 **Your's truly, Inkwalking**


End file.
